Rekindle
by Nova-Dreamer
Summary: Orochimaru has taken major steps to acheive his goals, sealing the Kyuubi in his own body and taking over Konoha. Naruto and his friends have to grow up fast to save their village before it's too late. Eventual Naru/Hina and Others. Action Oriented.
1. The End of Fire

**(Revised and Edited as of May 27th, 2008)**

Hello People, and Welcome to Rekindle.

A Couple things to note before I introduce the story. This is most definitely an AU story. It it apparent from moment one. So if you don't like that, I apologize. But this is what came to my mind when I started writing it.

Also, I will admit, I am not a huge fan of the series. I don't think it's bad, but I don't follow it religiously, so if I make mistakes, please make me aware of them. I wish to try and keep it true to the world of Naruto while interpreting it my own way.

And lastly, you may wonder, mostly later on, about character personality. Now, I am not getting into real life views here, but I am taking the view of Nature over Nurture for the most part, so expect Naruto to be a brash, clumsy, and dense boy who is not necessarily the genius his father is. But yes, he will be much stronger, and the same goes for his opponents. He won't be exactly be the same, obviously, but some of his more dominant traits will be the same at heart. It works out in the end. The same is true for other characters who are important to the plot. Pretty much the same people, but with different circumstances thrown on to them.

I can't think of anything else important right now, so please do enjoy the story. The time line starts around the attack of Kyuubi on the village of Konoha.

All rights to the creator of the series, Masashi Kishimoto. 

Rekindle: The End of Fire

Orochimaru eyes tracked the ninja who was slowly crawling along the floor towards the Sannin, and Orochimaru felt his disgust well over into his expression. The fool seemed totally incapable of realizing that Orochimaru would not end this ritual and save his pathetic life. The only redeeming quality he could find in the fool was that he had been able to hold his tongue and kept from screaming when the Kyuubi had entered his body and begun the process of destroying the chakra that kept him alive. After 149 of his brethren had fallen before him, the man had become the final step in completing this ritual.

Orochimaru watched as the man began to reach out to grab his robes, and Orochimaru kicked the man away hard enough to send blood flying onto his clothing.

Feeling annoyed at the mess the fool had made, he looked down at his robes and he felt a certain admiration build in him. The blood red color made the robes of the Hokage appear much more sinister and befitting nation run by a truly strong ninja.

While the ascension to the post of Hokage had been temporary, it couldn't have come at a better time for Orochimaru. While that fool Minato and his bitch of a wife were in some god forsaken hell hole birthing his son, he had been able to step in as temporary Hokage thanks to the backing of the council.

Within the first few hours under his command word had arrived that all of his dreams were about to come true. Fast approaching the villages was the most feared and most powerful of the tailed demons, and while many saw it as the beginning of the end for the village, Orochimaru could not help being elated at the chance fate had given him.

Orochimaru tore himself from his thoughts when a deep red pulsing from the seals written along every available space in the room drew his attention. The pulses were a signal to indicate that the ritual was nearly complete, and that the final soul had begun to be sacrificed to bring the mighty fox demon to bear. On the very edge of his hearing he could make out the snarling and growling coming from the weakened demon's spirit as more and more energy from the sacrifices was used to make it too weak to resist the seals Orochimaru had placed in the room.

Orochimaru had promised the villagers the demon's destruction, but he intended to do no such thing to the king of demon's. Not only was it beyond his ability to kill an elemental being such a demon, the fox possessed it's legendary healing ability that would protect it from being destroyed through such actions. In a human, such healing power would be akin to immortality, and no amount of damage or passing of time would cause the holder of such power to grow weak with the demon's power coursing in their veins.

It was the answer to Orochimaru's quest to find a way to live forever.

While those villagers believed he was destroying the demon for their benefit, he was instead sealing it inside of himself, gaining access to the powers the demon held through use of his latest jutsu.

The seals had been a project he had been perfecting over the past few years and were designed for this very purpose, to control and contain a demon's powers within a human host. It had been his luck that the most powerful demon had fallen right into his hands a few short months after it's completion. Even more favorably, the attack had come at a point in time when no one would question the loss of so many powerful ninjas he needed to complete such a jutsu.

Orochimaru smiled as he looked at the seals he had created and designed after so long. It was the most elegant jutsu he had ever designed, and the workings so intricate and well thought out the thought of it made him shiver in delight. It had been designed not to contain the demon when it was at it's strongest, but to weaken it, and force it's power down to a level even a human body could withstand it.

The demon once caught in the jutsu would have little choice but to try and escape through killing those who had caught it, and would be forced to use it's power to burn through every last bit of chakra and life force the summoners held before it could be free. Yet even for a powerful demon lord, destroying such fundamental parts of a person would be taxing, and Orochimaru had hand selected many who possessed a large quantity of both chakra and life energy to be the sacrifices.

Once the demon had been weakened, the seal would begin the next step of placing the demon's power within a human host, as well as placing seals to keep the majority of it's power dormant until such time that the host could assimilate more of it's power without being destroyed. In time, Orochimaru would grow to wield the full powers and abilities of the Kyuubi, and with it his goal of immortality would be realized.

The only other thing that would make his ascension to godliness even better was the thought of how his Sensei would react when he realized what had happened. The man was due to check on them when the ritual was over, and he could hardly describe how powerful it made him feel when he thought of the look that would be on his face when he arrive. The old fool Sarutobi had refused to make him Hokage, and though he had nearly been discovered by him while performing some of his experiments, the man still held hope that he would someday prescribe to the teachings he had always forced on him in his youth. It was nearly blissful to imagine the look of pride on his teachers face turn to horror when he realized the sort of ritual Orochimaru had performed deep within his beloved Hokage tower.

Orochimaru turned his attention back to the task at hand when he saw the body of the final ninja burst into a youki born flame, a sign that the last bit of life had left the man's body and that the time to begin the next stage of the sealing was to begin. The fire, though, caught his attention, and made Orochimaru smirk. Whereas the youki had burned a deep angry red at the beginning of the ritual, it now had weakened to a dim yellow color, a sign that the demon was no longer powerful enough to overcome the next portion of the sealing.

Grinning to himself, Orochimaru began to perform a complex series and hand seals to complete the ritual. On the last seal, he saw the youki rise from the blackened corpse of the last sacrifice and rush over to slam into his body. The Sannin gasped as the youki flooded his system, and though he had made the precautions to avoid being overloaded with youki, it was uncomfortable to have so much of it flooding his chakra coils. He knew this was only a small portion of what was held behind the seals that now covered his body, and the thought made him laugh at how much stronger he would become. In only a few moments, the process was done, and he stretched, enjoying the feeling as a sense of well being he had never known before filled his entire being.

Even with such a small portion of it's power, he had never felt so ALIVE before. It was as if every muscle he had was being strengthened, and every wound healed, not to mention the sheer chakra at his command. And to think, he still had years to absorb the rest of the youki that the seal hadn't let bleed over into him. The thought was enough to make him want to laugh again and rush out to find those fools who had dared defy him in the past and destroy them. He would no longer let anyone dare defy him, and any who did would become food for the crows to pick over.

He was so enraptured he didn't notice when the doors behind him opened to let someone in to witness what he had done. Orochimaru only took note of it when the chakra and blood lust behind him grew to a level it became a slight hindrance on his ability to enjoy the feeling of power. The chakra being thrown his way was enough to leave many ninja kneeling on the floor, gasping for breath under the pressure being put on them. Even an hour ago Orochimaru would have felt a cause for worry witnessing such a horrible anger being aimed at him, yet now things were different. To him, the chakra this old man was using against him was nothing when compared to his own.

Turning around, he let his gaze meet the those of his teacher's, "Hello, Sarutobi Sensei."

Orochimaru could see how his teacher was shaking slightly in anger, and he could smell the sweat coming off the man at the force of restraining himself. "What have you done Orochimaru? What is this madness?" Sarutobi yelled, and Orochimaru gave him a cold smile. Though the evidence that any had died here had been destroyed in the cleansing fire of the kyuubi's youki, the outlines of bodies remained, marked in their ashes. He also respected Sarutobi for his intelligence if for nothing else, and knew the man could deduce the general purpose of the seals all around him, for he was sure the man had an idea what had taken place.

Orochimaru gestured to the room as a whole, "I stopped the Kyuubi, is that not what the Hokage should do for his people?" He was pleased to see the look of hurt shoot across the old man's face, and Orochimaru grinned. The fool's reactions were better than he could have ever dreamed of, seeing his precious dream being perverted so made for the most beautiful expression of anger and shock.

"Yes! But not at the sake of sacrificing those very people he must protect! We listened when you petitioned us to let you handle the Kyuubi before it reached the gates, even though it was Minato's decision. We should never have listened to your sugar coated lies about having a way for Minato to avoid having to use THAT jutsu, and now I see you sentenced many good men to their death's for your own gain." The man took a breath, his face flushed red with anger before changing tact and changing to the look he had given them when he had been their teacher and was particularly disappointed in them. "And you honestly wonder why I chose him over you? As your teacher, you shame me and all those who ever taught you how to be a ninja, Orochimaru."

Orochimaru raised an eyebrow, and even thought he was seething inside, he didn't reveal any of it to the old man. He had been the rightful choice for Hokage all those months ago, and to have it stolen by an upstart was a bitter memory of how his own teacher had stood in the way of his goals.

"That is truly a shame then Sensei. I once respected you for your mastery over jutsu, yet it would seem that we have come to a conflict of ideals that simply cannot be settled through words alone." Bringing his hands up, he began passing through a few simple seals, building a fire deep inside of his belly before releasing it from his mouth. Though his Sensei may have been old, he was still no weak ninja, and before the fire had even made it halfway to him, had produced an intense burst of water to douse the flames, digging his heels in to give his technique more strength with which to combat his fire.

He had no doubt that his sensei had expected his technique to overpower what he had believed was a low level fire jutsu. The water and fireball collided, and Orochimaru smirked as his youki laced fireball caused the water to evaporate instantly, continuing through to hit the old man in the chest. The force of the impact sent Sarutobi back into a wall, where he landed in a grunt of pain as demon fire began to spread from where he was struck.

Had it been any other person, Orochimaru was sure they would have died instantly or been forced to burn to death from the youki blazing around them. Yet Sarutobi got to his feet, and in a series of blindingly fast jutsu put out the fire before rolling to avoid another such attack. From there the game had begun for Orochimaru. Never before had he been able to push his sensei so far in a fight, and though the man was old, he fought with a ferocity and skill that put many younger ninja to shame.

Still, the stronger the opponent, the more Orochimaru could truly begin to test the extent of his new power. It would have been simple enough to end the fight, but the chance to have revenge against his teacher was too sweet an opportunity to let pass quickly.

Orochimaru began to use more force in his attacks, adding more and more of the youki now under his control to his jutsu, and watched as his teacher lost ground. He knew though that despite his advantages he was facing a man with skills to match the most powerful shinobi in all of the continent's history. The frantic struggling of a cornered animal made it do things extraordinarily risky things in order to survive, and this prey was already dangerous enough without being pushed to his limits.

It was for that reason that Orochimaru wasn't surprised to see his sensei put space between them, his hands coming up to form a pattern of seals he recognized as being one of the few hew had to worry about with his new body. A jutsu from which no escape or power existed to overcome once you were caught in it. The damnable upstart Minato had created it as a means to seal or destroy powerful enemies as a last resort should all other methods fail. The Sannin had to admire it's power, though it came a too heavy a price, with the life of the person performing the seals being the cost required to fuel the jutsu.

Dashing forward, he brought his hands up and grabbed his sensei's own before he could finish the final seal, and with a squeeze broke both of his teachers hands in his grip. Letting go, he gave the old man a backhand that sent him careening into the wall hard enough there was an audible snap as his bones broke.

Orochimaru walked over to stand above the broken and bloody man he had once looked up to as a child. Though he was panting for breath through broken ribs, the man still had the vexing self righteous gleam to his eyes as he stared up at Orochimaru. It was a look he had hoped to see snuffed out for years now, and finally the day was upon him to have his dream handed to him. "You know others will come along who will stop you Orochimaru." Sarutobi said.

Orochimaru sneered. "Any who dare attack the new Hokage will die trying. Good bye Old Man." With that, he once more formed the seals for a fire jutsu, this time pouring as much youki into it as he could, before watching it consume his teacher.

X X X

Minato had to stop to catch his breath, placing his hands on his knees and leaning over as he tried to make himself relax by breathing deeply. Even with his famed speed and stamina, the trip had taken him nearly three days of non stop running at full speed to return to Konoha. Now that he was in the forests around his home, he began to wonder about the reports that the Kyuubi was poised to attack the village. No where could he see any damage to the countryside or the village from where he was standing high in the trees.

It was with that small peace of mind he let himself take the small break to catch his breath. He had made liberal use of his Hiraishin technique to cover a lot of ground throughout the day, and had he not been in as a good a shape as he was, or if he were a ninja with smaller chakra reserves, he would have run the chance of dying simply from chakra exhaustion.

The other reason he took a moment to rest was partially due to who he was. Being a war hero and the leader of Konoha, the sight of him ever being anything but calm and composed could cause a panic. Ninjas of the rock would love to capitalize on any weakness he had, and scared villagers did not need to see their leader anything less than ready for battle in a time of crisis. Running through those gates sweaty and shaking with exertion wouldn't be the most awe inspiring image to greet the village with.

Still, he didn't like the idea of waiting any longer to go into town and try and assess the situation. He already had made every effort to get here as quickly as possible as soon as the summoned monkey Sarutobi had sent him had alerted him of the danger. He had also wasted valuable time trying to convince Kushina to stay behind with Kakashi to care for her while she rested after giving birth to their son.

Naturally Kushina had refused, acting like he had insulted her by treating her as weak. Normally even Minato wouldn't want to face her when she was angry, but he just couldn't bear to see her have to push herself on a marathon run after such a difficult birthing. She had made it the first two days without complaining about the conditions, but when she had nearly fallen out of a tree while holding Naruto in her arms, he had finally managed to convinced her to let him go on ahead while she and Kakashi to made it back to Konoha at a slower pace.

He had wanted Kakashi to stay with her for more than just the fact she was weak though. The boy had been crushed by the death of Obito, and while Minato and Rin had both taken it hard at the time, none had taken it worse than Kakashi. He had tried to become more and more like Obito in some odd way of showing respect to the boy. While Minato didn't think the change was bad, they had hoped the outing and the excitement over the birth of their son would be enough to help him let go of the desperate need he was showing to mourn his teammate. Now though he was worried if the boy saw any others close to him dead or injured, it would break him totally before he had the chance to heal from having lost Obito.

Despite the morbid thoughts, though, Minato felt himself smiling at the thought of the beautiful baby boy his wife had given life to. He knew that in the face of impending tragedy for his people he should be more somber, but the idea that he finally had a complete family again made him smile despite his attempts to school his expression into a more serious one.

While he had never been a true orphan, his family as well as his clan had been on a slow decline for many years. With the death of his parents he had become the last of the line for the Arashi clan, and had only had Jiraiya to look up to as both his sensei and a father figure in his life. Though he loved his sensei dearly, there was nothing that could replace the feeling of having a family of one's own to care for. Now that he had accomplished his goals of becoming Hokage as well as marrying Kushina and having a child with her, he knew that his dreams had finally come true.

Still, he knew those thoughts were for neither here nor there. Taking a deep breath, he righted himself and shook off his reverie. He had more important business to attend to at the moment, and it was time to defend all the other families of Konoha from the terror heading their way.

X X X

As Minato passed through the gates of Konoha he was instantly put on guard by the lack of guards at the gate. Normally the gates would be kept open during the daytime to allow foreigners to come and petition the ninja for help with various tasks, but there was always guards on duty day or night to defend the place. The guards would question all who wished to enter the village, and were prepared to handle any attack or subterfuge that could take place on their watch.

Never before in the history of Konoha had the gates been left open with no one to guard them, and he passed through with no little amount of trepidation when he wasn't stopped by someone.

Taking out a kunai, he crept his way deeper into town.

When got closer to the center of Konoha, though, the sounds of noise began to reach his ears, and breaking out into a run, he reached the main town square to see something that left him dumbfounded.

Ninja and villager alike were locked in song and dance, celebrating as if some important victory had been won for the village. Everywhere there were happy people standing in the streets, and many people looked happier than he had seen them since the end of the war with the hidden village of the rock.

On second glance, he did see some people on the outside of the group, faces frozen in looks of grief, occasionally being consoled by family or friends. For all the world, it looked as if a battle had been fought and won, and it struck Minato dumb as to what must have happened in the brief time he had been gone. There was no sign of a struggle with the Kyuubi, and to destroy such a beast would certainly be a cause for celebration, yet there was no way such a beast could be beaten so handily as to make it appear as if nothing had transpired.

Before anyone spotted him, he slipped back into the alleyway, making his way to the Hokage tower. If he was to get any answers, that would be the place.

Landing inside the gates to the Hokage tower, he spied two people making their way across the compound. Given the clan symbols on their clothing, he figured he would begin there with trying to figure out what had transpired. They also appeared to be the best people to ask, as Hyuuga Hiashi and Nara Shikato were the head of their respect clans, and more likely to know the details of what had befallen the village than any other single ninja might have. He had worked with both before and found them to be honest and caring enough individuals, and trusted their judgment.

Running to catch up with them, he placed a hand on both of their shoulders, causing them to jump at the sudden contact. He grinned sheepishly as they both turned to glare at whoever had surprised them by sneaking up on them. Minato would never admit it, but it was a bad habit he found endlessly amusing, being able to sneak up on such skilled ninja and scare them with his presence. He was about to apologize and cut to the point of his visit though when he saw what they were holding each of their arms.

"CONGRATULATIONS!" For a brief moment, all the worries about the village left his head as he wrapped the two men in a giant hug, being careful to not get too rough seeing as they were both carrying newborn children in their arms. Every time a new child to a clan was born, the clan was required to register the children with the village so they could be recognized as a true clan member. Their birth explained they the two men were here at the tower instead of out celebrating or doing whatever it was that the village was doing at the moment.

Hiashi nodded, "I thank you Hokage-sama. More importantly, we're glad to see you back. Is Kushina-san fairing well? We had thought you would be gone longer for the birthing of your child." Minato nodded, "The birth was a bit hard on her, but luckily there was a very good midwife in the town we were in. To be honest, if she hadn't been there, I think she may not have made it through the birthing. I'll have to show you my son someday soon, the both of you." He gave them both his trademark grin before becoming serious again. "But first, what happened? I heard the town was to be under attack by the Kyuubi, it's the reason I rushed back here, yet if I didn't know better, I would think it's like we've won a war, the way people are celebrating out in the streets."

Shikato and Hiashi looked at each other before Shikato sighed and scratched the back of his head. "It was about to. But the Sannin Orochimaru managed to defeat it..." Minato couldn't help but gawk. He had to respect his sensei's teammate, the man had been one of the strongest ninjas he had ever fought. It was only up until recently that he had grown strong enough that the spar he occasionally had with the snake summoner had become easier for him. So if he could beat the Sannin easily now, and on his best day would be no where close to being able to defeat the demon lord, he wondered how Orochimaru had accomplished it. "How?"

Again the two exchanged a worried glance, this time Hiashi spoke first. "That's what everyone else wants to know. He and 150 of the most elite ninjas in the village stayed holed up in the Tower for a whole day. Early on in the day the scouts reported that Kyuubi had disappeared from our borders, but the doors didn't open until that night, and then only Orochimaru emerged. He claimed that the ninjas, and the Sandaime, had given their lives to seal it away forever, but..." He trailed off, seeming to try and find the right words to say. Finally, he shook his head and with uncharacteristic bluntness for a Hyuuga said "But something just doesn't feel right about it. There's something different to Orochimaru. I have always withheld discussing my feelings about the man, but whereas before he could best be described as dangerous, now he seems much more...sinister."

Minato bowed his head and sighed at the loss of so many fine men and women dead. It was a hard blow to have to hear that they had died while he had not been there to help them in their endeavors, but the loss of the Sandaime would perhaps come as the worst news to many in the village. He had not known the man exceedingly well until he had become a Hokage himself, but the man had been seen as a grandfather to many of the village's orphans and would be missed for his compassion as well as his talents.

What truly worried him though was the news of Orochimaru's actions in stopping the Kyuubi. It would take nothing short of the most powerful seals to control and seal a demon such as the Kyuubi, and all such seals possessed a great sacrifice to power them. For Orochimaru to be so non chalant about the loss of so many lives troubled him. For him to walk away uninjured where even the great like Sarutobi had failed, though, brought questions of the nature of his sealing jutsu.

The only way to determine for sure the manner in which he had performed the sealing would be to actually see what had happened for himself. "Do you two think you could take me to where it happened? I know you're here on business, but it's important." Minato gave them both the most serious look he could, and though Hiashi still looked ready to refuse, Shikato nodded his agreement. "He claimed the area was off limit's, but seeing as you are the Hokage, I guess we have no choice, do we?" Minato gave him a small smile, "Thank you. And thank you for taking time away from what you came here to do." Shikato just shrugged before moving the sleeping baby to his shoulder. "As troublesome as it is, I'm curious too. Something doesn't seem right about all this and I guess as a father now it's my duty to keep Shikamaru here from growing up with too many annoying things going on around him."

Hiashi frowned, but nodded in agreement. "I too only want a safe place for my little Hinata and wife to live. I do not trust Orochimaru, and it is my duty to help the true Hokage with his investigation."

Minato nodded, understanding the sentiment exactly. He had taken the office of Hokage for exactly those reasons himself. While he knew that the office meant he would have to face hardships, it would also mean he could create a safe place for many to live. To him that chance to help others had been the biggest reason he had been proud to accept the title of Hokage.

Entering the Tower they began the descent into the basement, all the while he noted a distinct lack of anyone in the hallways. Normally the tower was buzzing with activity night and day, but now the place had a dark and sinister feel to it as they walked through the quiet hallways.

When he inquired about it, he only received the curt reminder that they had been ordered to remain away from the room Orochimaru had used to seal the Kyuubi from Hiashi. They were forced to stop for a moment to settle down little Hinata only once before they made their way to their goal. Rounding the corner to the large antechamber used for complex seals, Minato had to struggle to not vomit at the sight of what the room had been transformed into.

Covering the walls and floor were long lines of symbols used to form a single seal, all formed in now dry human blood. In the corner of the chamber Minato could just make out the remains of a charred corpse. Though it was difficult to tell given the severity of the burns, the size and build led him to believe he had found the remains of Sarutobi. Also, if there was anything else to take away from the scene, it was that the body seemed to still be relatively fresh, and he had to believe it was only a few hours old, meaning that the man had been murdered near the end or after the seal had fulfilled it's purpose. He knew the man would never take part in the perverted ritual the seal spelled out, so he had to believe the man had stumbled upon what had been a horrible scene. The sheer horror he must have felt at seeing what had been done to so many fine men and women by Orochimaru must have sickened him, and he only hoped that he had been able to make Orochimaru pay in some small part for what he had done before he had died.

He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he almost missed the tell tale sound of cloth moving in the quiet room, and only just had enough time to to lean back to avoid being hit with a kunai that had been aimed for his throat. Pushing off the ground hard, he retreated to the far side of the room, yet he felt the presence of his attacker behind him even before he had landed.

Though he rarely cared to boast about it, he was proud of his speed. He was the fastest ninja in Konoha, and probably one of the fastest in any of the major ninja villages. Yet this man put his speed to shame, and it was only through a quick use of his Hiraishin jutsu that he escaped the thrust of the sword that had been aimed at his back by transporting himself back to the other side of the room. Kneeling down, he grabbed the hilt of the kunai he had used to teleport with and slowly looked up into the smirking face of Orochimaru.

"Now I thought that I told people to stay away from here. What might the three of you be doing, then, hmm?" Something about Orochimaru's voice sent a shiver down Minato's spine. It was unnatural, deeper and more guttural than his normally silky smooth way of speaking. He could almost feel the waves of chakra and killing intent rolling off the man. Judging by the seals and the sheer number of sacrifices needed to power it, he had a feeling he knew just what had happened to make the snake summoner so much stronger than before.

"I was under the impression you had sworn your loyalty to the snakes Orochimaru, what are they going to say when they find out you chose to become the jailer for the demon fox?"

Orochimaru smirked, "You always were an insufferable brat, never knowing when to respect your betters. Though, I should praise you for figuring it out so quickly. Sarutobi sensei didn't seem to understand it's implications right until we began our little fight, and it was sweet to see that look of defeat when he realized he couldn't defeat the power of the demon I have under my control now." Orochimaru spoke with such a nonchalant attitude that Minato could feel his anger rising, and it was through force of will alone that he kept his killer intent in check. He could not risk making Orochimaru attack him at the moment by aggravating the Sannin now that he had access to such power.

The two men behind him though didn't seem to realize to just what an extent the Sannin's power had grown, and he could feel their killer intent go unchecked, rising as their anger grew from the retelling of Orochimaru's treasonous actions. Luckily Orochimaru's only rose slightly in response before stopping, and the man made no move to attack. Unsure of what Orochimaru would do, Minato prepared for the worst and tried to ready himself for intercepting any attack the man would make.

Orochimaru grinned again, "Ah yes, it was a very sweet thing to see him die before me, but even better to go to the council with news of my success right afterwards. Can you imagine how pleased they were with me? Enough that you should be bowing to your new Hokage, Minato-_kun_. Though it will do little to save you from your fate, I can at least promise you a swift death before you die labeled as a traitor to Konoha. Such a shame you felt the need to attack it's new Hokage in a jealous rage and were killed when I defended myself. A pitiable end to your life, yet one I believe the people will come to accept with time."

Minato didn't even grace the taunt with a reply. He was not surprised at the action of the council. They had become corrupted by their status and rarely tended to look past the ninjas ability to the true character, only looking for the strongest ninja to lead the village. Though he was sure he could have their vote overridden, the point was null and void faced with the circumstances placed before him. All that mattered to Minato now was to try and catch the next movement of his enemy. It was that very thing that would decide who lived or died while in his company, and he wasn't going to let Orochimaru distract him from seeing it.

The attack came quickly though, and under the confusion of the two babies letting out cries of fear. They had been awakened by the discussions, and the oppressive feeling of so much killer intent and chakra being bandied about them had no doubt frightened them to tears.

He was only fast enough to partially deflect Orochimaru's lunge, aimed to spear Shikato and his baby through the chest. Instead the blade penetrated Shikato's opposite shoulder, and forcing the Jounin to the ground in pain as the blade cut through his collarbone. Shikato had managed to keep his other arm around Shikamaru, but Minato could tell that he would have no way to defend from the finishing blow in such a position. In a moment of desperation, Minato threw his kunai at the other end of the room again and grabbed both men before transporting them with him away from Orochimaru once again.

He didn't trust Orochimaru, not as far as he could throw him, but he did know the man enjoyed toying with his prey. If he made no real movement to escape, the older ninja wouldn't try to attack them directly. Orochimaru would want to take time to derive pleasure from the fear he hoped to see in their eyes when he demonstrated his power over them.

Kneeling in front of Shikato, he took the now crying baby from the man's arm. "Just hold on, okay? I'll figure something out to get us all out of this." Shikato smirked at that, "Really? I thought we were royally screwed myself, and we both know I'm the genius here."

Hiashi placed a hand on his shoulder before handing him his baby daughter, turning back to face the Sannin waiting on the other side of the hall. "Do not give us false hope Minato. We know this is a fight we cannot win. Of all of us, you are the only one who stands a chance of escaping, and it is you that we are placing the life of our children in the hands of. We will give you the chance to escape. Do not misuse it by arguing with us to the contrary."

Minato looked at the two men before him, words of protest rising to his lips before he looked down at the two crying children in his arms. He wanted to stay and fight and protect these men and the entire village, but even he knew that despite being a more technically skilled fighter, if he stayed to fight, he would only die against Orochimaru and his new power. It was his duty to protect the future generation, and throwing his life away in a meaningless fight would not accomplish that, no matter how much it hurt to leave two of his comrades here to face Orochimaru alone.

He nodded to Hiashi and let Shikato use his shoulder to hoist himself up before taking a step back behind them. As if that were the signal, he could see Orochimaru preparing to attack, his stance deepening in a movement designed to carry him forward in one quick lunge. Securing the babies he placed both of his hands together in a seal, gathering his chakra. He had an escape route planned, but it would drain him of almost all of his chakra to use it over such a distance, and he wanted to make sure nothing went wrong when he was holding on to the two children.

Meanwhile, Shikato had just finished a jutsu as well, the room going dark before his shadow slid across the floor at an inhuman speed, connecting with Orochimaru before he could leap forward, and holding him in place. Yet despite the power put into the jutsu, it couldn't stop the other man from forcing himself forward as he began to walk through the jutsu towards them.

Hiashi stepped forward next, his eyes blazing with the byakugan as he stared down at Orochimaru. "We cannot expect to defeat you here, Orochimaru, but we will make you recognize our power before the end." Sliding into a deep stance used in Jyuuken, he brought both hands up, one leading towards Orochimaru and the other held back by his face. "You have entered the range of my divination. Prepare to learn the true power of the Hyuuga style, 360 Palms."

At last Minato felt the power built up behind his seal sufficiently to work his jutsu, and he felt the pull of his chakra taking him from the room. The last thing he saw before he and the children disappeared was Orochimaru tearing free of the Shadow Bind technique and running forward to meet Hiashi's strikes.

X X X

Minato landed in a slight heap at the feet of his wife and Kakashi. In a moment of foresight before they had left on their journey, he had given both a seal used in his Hiraishin jutsu to be carried on their person in order to either summon him or allow him to move to their location. It was meant to be a safeguard if they were to run in to trouble in any way, but it had turned into the means by which him and the two babies he was carrying in his arms had survived Orochimaru's rage.

He forced himself to look up at their worried faces, and he grimaced. He supposed trying to teleport himself a hundred miles or so in one go was a bit absurd, even with his insane chakra reserves. Not to mention he had done it after running for 3 days straight right into a fight with a demon.

Moving his arms, he revealed the two babies to the other two before closing his eyes. "You have to take us away from Konoha now. Don't stop for rest, and please, keep these two safe, we have to escape for not only our own survival, but for their future, as well as Naruto's, and everyone back home." And with that, he passed out from sheer exhaustion, the thought of what would happen back in Konoha following him into his dreams.

X X X

I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of Rekindle. I am still trying to get used to this style of writing, and found some of the characters hard to get into. Minato is a somewhat simple and noble guy who just wants to help, whereas Orochimaru is a pain to write. He always struck me as a spoiled child who if he didn't get what he wanted would just whine and bitch until he got it, or the person died and he could take it.

Also, this will eventually be a Naru/Hina story. However, Shikamaru is a major character as well. I personally like either Temari, or Ino. Now, I know Ino has as much character as a twig in the original series, but it doesn't have to be like that in my own story. So some feed back is useful.

Other than that, please review. It let's me know what you like and what you dislike. I won't listen to everything you might suggest or say, because ultimately, I write for my own pleasure, but I do want to improve, so it's good to see what people think.

I will try and update as soon as possible, but I am a VERY busy college student, so expect it to take time possibly.


	2. Strategic Retreat

**(Editted as of May 30th)**

Yep. Only one day between updates. Don't expect that too often. I blew off studying for exams in order to write this. I needed the break from work and the ideas were just flowing today.

Not much to say here, just that I hope you enjoy the chapter.

All Rights to the Creator, Masashi Kishimoto.

Rekindle: Strategic Retreat

Kushina pulled a travel blanket over her husband, and took a moment to make sure he was resting comfortably before she left the tent. Heading over to a nearby tree, she placed her back against it and let herself slide down to the ground, sitting with a heavy sigh. Closing her eyes in exhaustion, she had to fight against her natural urge to to rest. She and Kakashi had been running for nearly two days straight now, and only now were they breaking camp, as they believed they had taken full advantage of the lead they had over the hunter nins that might have been sent after them. It was likely they would be tracked, if Minato's escape from Konoha held all the implications they thought it did. It had played to their favor that they had kept the location where they had gone to birth Naruto a secret, for without knowing the direction they were arriving from, it would take those following them quite some time to locate a trail.  
She pried an eye open when Kakashi deliberately stepped on a nearby twig and she looked at the teenager. He made his way over to her and knelt down in front of her, holding out a mug containing the soup he had prepared when they had made camp. She gave him a weak smile before drinking down the soup, glad that someone had thought to make it for them. Knowing Kakashi, he also had probably put in a few vitamins and medicines into her meal to help her recover quickly from their marathon run over the past week. She decided to not comment on it, as Kushina knew she didn't have to say anything for Kakashi to know she was grateful.

It was difficult to admit to herself, as she had grown accustomed to believing herself a skilled ninja, but she was at the end of her endurance. It was small things like the soup that had kept her going for so long, but she knew she didn't have it in her to take another step for the day. The intense labor she had gone through with Naruto had taken more out of her than she had ever expected it to, and had nearly become the death of her without the very expert help of experienced midwives to guide her through it. She had continued on this death march through sheer stubborn pride up until this point, but her body was demanding rest now.

Kushina knew the exhaustion showed on her face, because Kakashi had been sending her concerned looks all day and had only stopped when she had growled at him to leave her alone. It wasn't right to take it out on the boy, but she felt ashamed for the weakness and had let her temper get the better of her. Though Kushina had apologized immediately after, Kakashi had waved it off, seeming to understand how hard it was on her.

Kakashi coughed, and she looked out of her cup to look at the boy. "I'll take the first watch tonight. You need the rest, and besides, you're the only one who can handle them, you need your energy." Kakashi gave her a small grin when he pointed at the second tent they had pitched by the first, and was the place where the three children were resting. They had been placed in one of their two tents to avoid the night chill, and both had willingly given up their comfort to make sure that the babies could remain bundled up and healthy.

Kushina smirked a bit, "Is the little elite ninja being beaten by three newborn babies?" Kakashi put a finger to his mask and looked up to the sky almost as in thought, "Hrmmm, Yes, I do believe he is." At that, Kushina let out her first real laugh in days, and it took her a few moments to compose herself again. Kushina was glad that Kakashi was there at times like these. The boy's jokes reminded her of Minato's own dry humor at times, and it put her at ease despite the worries that had been piling up in their lives over the past few days.

Kakashi stood up and reached down to offer her a hand up, and Kushina accepted it, using the boy to get up onto her feet again. From there she slowly walked over to her sleeping bag on legs shaking with exhaustion, and she collapsed down on top of it.

The only things she managed to do before closing her eyes was to place her Katana near where she was sleeping and watch as Kakashi's shadow clones began to patrol the perimeter. She would rest for a little while before it was her turn to be on watch, and then she would use the time to figure out what they were to do next.

Those thoughts died quickly though, as Kushina was asleep before Kakashi had even been able to make a single lap around the campsite.

X X X

Kushina woke up slowly as the light began to hit her face, and taking a moment to figure out why it was happening, Kushina realized two important things. First, she would have to kill Kakashi later for coddling her and letting her sleep through her watch. Second, she was surprised that none of the children had managed to wake her up in the middle of the night. She doubted they would sleep through the entire night, so she must have needed the rest more than she thought, to have been so dead to the world.

As Kushina rolled over, she saw at least part of the reason she hadn't been awakened by the children. Kakashi and a shadow clone seemed to be caring for the children, keeping them cared for and entertained. Whereas Hinata and Shikamaru were with the Kakashi she assumed to be the clone, giggling softly as they were bounced on it's knee, the Kakashi holding Naruto had it's hands full. Instead of simply lying there and making Kakashi's job easy, he was wiggling and squirming in attempts to break free from Kakashi's hold, and Naruto's vivid blue eyes were wide as he tried to take in everything around him.

Yawning, she got up and stretched, and was pleased with how much better she felt after a full night's rest. She supposed it would be punishment enough to Kakashi to let him play babysitter to all three children for a little while longer in return for coddling her. Kakashi looked up at her with a silent plea of help as she walked past him towards Minato's tent, but Kushina had other plnas. She mouthed the words revenge at him, and made sure to give him a very evil grin, before entering the tent.

Kushina knelt by Minato's head, and placed a palm on his forehead. Slowly she let her chakra seep into Minato, performing a variant of a medical jutsu to try and determine his condition. Almost as soon as she started, a strong pulse of Minato's chakra reacted with her own, and she withdrew her palm. If she let him sleep naturally, he would still wake very soon, but given the circumstances, they couldn't afford to go much longer without knowing what it was that happened in the village.

Kushina took a moment to leave the tent, and returned with a half filled canteen. Standing over him, she turned it over and began to pour it over his face, "Wake up you lazy bum!"

The water and the shout caused Minato to shoot up in his sleeping bag, wide awake and sending a glare at her for waking him up that way. Not one to be out done, she glared back at him, and he visibly quailed at the sight. Kushina smirked, proud of the fact that she had one of the strongest ninjas to have ever lived trained so well.

Minato shook off the water and his resentment, and then gave her a small smile, probably happy for the little exchange they had. It was the normal everyday things that they both enjoyed, and she was happy she could give him those simple pleasures in life, especially when they meant she could have fun with the man and torment him occasionally.

Kushina's own smile disappeared though as Minato sighed, "We need to talk." he said.

She knelt beside him and wrapped her arms around him, her playful mood disappearing in the seriousness of the situation, "I know. I'll be out there taking care of the children with Kakashi, just come talk to us when you're ready."

Minato nodded and Kushina stood up and made to leave the tent. Looking one last time at Minato over her shoulder she saw him bury his face in his hands, lending him the air of a man who had been defeated so wholly that the guilt threatened to break them.

X X X

Kushina put her shirt back on, and gently placed Naruto to rest by the other two sleeping babies. She could remember how even a few weeks back, had someone told her she would be responsible for more than just her own child, she would have been horrified at the ramifications of having to care for so many children at once. Now that she was faced with the reality of the situation, it instead left a warm contentment burning inside of her to think that these three little lives depended on her, and it made her feel special to be able to provide that care.

Kushina also recognized that it wasn't her place to be the mother to any but Naruto, but that wouldn't lessen her love for the other two. She would do whatever it took to care for them properly, even sating the never ending hunger of all three babies.

Kushina turned around to see Kakashi facing away from her, fidgeting slightly from embarrassment, and it took all of her will power not to laugh. "It's alright, you can turn around now." Kakashi slowly turned around, and as soon as Kushina saw the scarlet red blush, her control was lost and she burst into laughter. "Getting flustered by your Sensei's wife Kakashi? What a naughty boy." She barely ground out between laughs.

If anything Kakashi's blush got worse, and he looked ready to shout something at her when she head Minato laughing near them. Turning to face him, he gave them both his trademark toothy grin. "I guess I need to watch out before you steal her away then, don't I Kakashi?"

Kushina put a finger to her chin as if deep in thought, "Well, the Silver hair IS charming, and it goes well with his eyes." Kakashi flinched at the last part of her statement, but she shrugged, not worrying about it. The boy would have to come to grips with his new sense of self now that he shared an eye with his dead teammate, and no amount of ignoring the fact would do that.

Kushina scooted over on the log she was sitting on, making room for Minato to sit beside her and the nearby children. Kushina leaned into his side as he wrapped an arm around her waist, and she saw his gaze wander to the three sleeping babies. "How are they?"

Kakashi let out a dramatic sigh, "Sensei, I mean all due respect, but your child makes me tired just looking at him." Minato grinned at Kakashi, and Kushina started chuckling at their antics. It wasn't surprising though, the degree to which Naruto already showed how much energy he already had.

Though neither Kushina nor Minato's clan's had possessed a true blood limit, both of their clans were known for various traits that had helped them survive in the ninja world.

The Arashi clan had been simply known for their stamina and huge reserves of chakra, and were known to be able to fight longer, and use more powerful jutsu, than almost any other ninja out there. From Kushina's side, in the Uzumaki clan, they had possessed small amounts of regenerative abilities when it came to healing. If the village of whirlpool had been larger, or had worked with the village of grass more closely, perhaps it could have been cultivated to be considered a true blood line. Kushina wouldn't be surprised if Naruto inherited both traits to some degree, and she knew it was a recipe for disaster, and he would be a ball of pure energy by the time he turned two.

They all sat in an awkward silence for the next few minutes, no one willing to be the one to break it by asking the questions that needed to be answered. Minato and Kushina looked up from staring at the babies when Kakashi coughed, and he ran a hand through his hair in exasperation. "You know, if Obito were here, I'm sure he would have wanted it said, so...what the hell is going on Sensei?"

Kushina wrapped her arm around Minato's back and gave him a squeeze to encourage him before he told them what happened. She felt her hold on him tighten as the story progressed from his arrival to Konoha through his meeting with the bastard snake Sannin. Though, it had been equal parts hoping to comfort Minato and her own rage boiling up at the news of what that bastard had done while they had been gone.

Though she had explicitly trusted whatever judgment that Minato had used when he decided to flee, she now understood that it had been the right choice to escape before a full scale battle ensued. He not only had to protect two other men and their children, but had been suffering from mild exhaustion, and it would have been suicide to face an experienced ninja with the power of a demon lord in such a state.

Kushina sighed, and asked "What now?" The others winced at the question. It was the perfect question to ask given the circumstance, and even one they knew the answer to, but it wouldn't be easy for any of them.

Minato walked over to the children, and picked up Naruto, cradling him in his arms as he thought of how to word his response."We wait. Orochimaru, despite his contempt for the villagers and weaker ninjas, does not wish to rule over corpses. To him they are pawns in his machinations, but he will not risk having everyone die under his rule. So we train in the mean time, and even if he gets stronger, that just means we have to train harder than he ever could." Minato smiled down at Naruto, "Besides, we owe it to these three to give them the best life we can, and a home to return to someday."

Kushina moved to Minato's side and picked up the other two children, holding them close to her. It was their responsibility to secure the freedom for all the innocent children like these born in Konoha. "We will beat him Minato. Even if we fail, then we can be proud of the fact we tried, and know that we trained these three to survive and be strong in whatever world Orochimaru is trying to create."

There was silence after that, and after a few moments Kakashi came forward, "We should be moving soon. If we want to ensure we are safe from Hunter nins, we need to use our lead while we have it."

Minato nodded. "More important than that, there is someone else we have to get away from the Hunter nins as soon as possible. You're right, we have no time to waste here."

With that thought in mind, the three of them packed up the camp and erased any signs that they had been there before picking up a child each and beginning another hard run.

X X X

To say Jiraiya was tired was a mild understatement of the bone aching weariness he felt. He was getting too old to run for a week straight, and despite camping for a few hours each night to rest, it was beginning to catch up with him. Still, it was a source of pride for him that at 38 he had more endurance than most ninjas many years his younger. It was all well and fine to be running when one had no urgent goal to reach, but the moment he had received a message from his teachers summoned monkey, he had dropped what he had been doing in order to race back to the village.

What really annoyed him was that thing he had had dropped had been a cute girl who had been interested in getting to know him better, and right as he was about to use his best moves on her, he had to leave. Jiraiya sighed, 'At least no one can accuse me of being anything less than faithful to the village' he thought, 'even if it did cost me my frolicking in the hot springs...'. Jiraiya shook his head to clear it of those thoughts. Now was not the time to worry about that sort of thing, and he knew he had a chance of tracking her down again when this whole crisis was resolved.

He pushed himself to run just a little faster, hoping to make it back to Fire country by sun down. He cursed again at how far his last mission had taken him, and for once hoped his student wouldn't push himself to run at full speed and make it back before Jiraiya. The boy was too fast and had too much stamina by half, and if anyone could make it from one end of the continent to the other in a short period of time, it would be Minato.

Knowing Minato, if he made it to the village and things began to look grim, he wouldn't have any hesitation in throwing his life away to stop the Kyuubi. What the boy failed to realize was that the village needed him, and that the loss of their hero and leader would be another blow to Konoha. Sure, the sentiment involved in being willing to sacrifice himself wasn't wrong, but he would have to accept that sometimes it was the better idea to let the older generation do it's part to protect the village.

Jiraiya was prepared to land on another branch when he felt chakra building up underneath his feet. Landing, he quickly pushed back and retreated to the branch he had just come from in time to see a small messenger toad appear. Making his way over to the summon, he saw a letter strapped to it's back, and closed with a seal that caught his attention.

It was a seal that had been designed so he could keep correspondence with the various spies he had seeded throughout the country. While many of them did not believe it to be anything other than the code used to identify themselves to Jiraiya, it was actually a seal he and Sarutobi had created in order to prevent the spread of false information. The seal was able to tell whether the message was false or not by the intentions of the person creating it, and should it be misinformation, then the message was changed in such a way the recipient would be able to tell. The fact that the seal was a closely guarded secret, as well as the delivery had been made by a toad, could only lead Jiraiya to believe that only one other person could have sent it.

"Hopefully it isn't the brat's bad idea of a final goodbye." Swallowing to hide his nerves, he took the letter and gave the toad his thanks before it disappeared in a puff of smoke. Sitting down on the branch, Jiraiya opened the letter, letting his eyes scan the message, then read it again, hardly believe what he was reading.

The shock of the letter was enough to make him feel as if the world had started to fall in around him, and he wasn't sure how to take it. Jumping to the ground, he leaned back against the tree and read the note once more, taking his time to absorb the entirety of it from a more objective standpoint, trying to understand the ramifications of the news.

A few minutes later, Jiraiya destroyed the note with a quick jutsu, and sighed, lightly hitting the back of his head against the tree. He had suspected there was something different about his teammate, and he even knew the man had never truly conformed to the ideal set forth by the village of unity and having power by working with others. Yet he never would have guessed just how strong his ambitions to be the most powerful ninja must have been to lead him to do this. It was difficult to imagine someone killing so many good ninja, and Sarutobi as well, just to accomplish so stupid a goal as becoming the container for a demon. The idea repulsed him, and he wondered if there was any soul left in Orochimaru to feel shame over what he had done.

'Still,' Jiraiya thought, 'that doesn't help me at all with what I need to do now.' Jiraiya knew that Minato had sent that note with a purpose that had nothing to do with informing him of Orochimaru's betrayal or the need to take Konoha back from him.

What Minato suspected, as well as Jiraiya, was that he would be hunted now. Orochimaru would sent a group of Hunter ninja to track him down and either try to kill him on the spot or bring him back to Orochimaru. It was the next logical thing for Orochimaru's little coup d'etat, and he would be seeking all those who posed a threat to him and would try to kill them before they could move against him.

Jiraiya wasn't being arrogant when he said he could beat a team of Anbu by himself, but it could take time, and it was always possible that Orochimaru would make an appearance as well if the Anbu thought to contact him. According to what Minato's letter said, and it was hard NOT to believe it with that seal attached to it, he would stand no chance against Orochimaru right now. He desperately wanted to go knock sense into his teammates head, but knew it was suicide, and that the choice Minato had made to run was the right one, and that Minato needed his help.

Jiraiya groaned when he stood up and both knees popped, and he had to steady himself against the tree. He was still tired from all the running, but Minato had taken a huge risk sending this letter to him, detailing where they could meet and when. He was working on a harsh deadline, and if he missed it, he knew his student was capable enough to avoid detection again for years, so it was important that he found him before he moved on.

Sighing, he reached into his bag and pulled out a soldier pill to help get him through the next part of his trip. Shuddering, he swallowed it, ignoring the horrible taste it always left in his mouth. 'Could at least make this stuff taste better. It's already bad for you, no need to make the flavor reflect that.' he groused to himself.

Jiraiya took off at a run away from the direction of the village, thinking how Minato would owe him big time by the end of this whole fiasco.

X X X

Orochimaru was seething as he read the report he had been handed by the head of the Anbu division, and it took all of his patience to not kill the man for his incompetence. For all his shortcomings when it came to the current mission, he was still a much more competent ninja than the people underneath him, and replacing him with inferior ninja would only lead to worse results later down the line.

He had provided them with every bit of information about that pervert Jiraiya they should need to find him. The fool was blindly loyal to this stupid town, and he would have been sure to rush back from his mission to try and prevent it's destruction by the Kyuubi, yet there still had been no sign of him.

It had been two weeks and the village had received no contact from his fellow Sannin, and had not been spotted anywhere in fire country in the past week. The only logical assumption was that he had been contacted by Minato and both of them had found a way to slip underground and avoid detection. Though he would never actively admit it, Orochimaru respected to a small degree the ninja Jiraiya had grown into, for he had become a powerful ninja many people had learned to fear. His power would never rival Orochimaru's own, especially with the demon now nested inside of him, but he was a true force to be reckoned with, and would be more than capable of shaking off the pursuit of a group of hunter ninjas.

Still, the thought didn't calm him, and the fact he was denied seeing the look of fear cross that fool's face as he landed the killing blow, was infuriating. That sense of power was paramount for Orochimaru, and he wasn't pleased at having to wait for it. It went beyond wanting to kill Jiraiya for having denied him in the past, the fool stood for all the ideals he abhorred, and killing him would be the ultimate chance at proving his philosophy was the correct one, that power would rule in the end.

That thought led to the natural question as to the fate of Tsunade, however. He had been undecided on whether he should send hunter ninja after her as well, but he held less hate for the slug princess. She offered no allegiance to the village any more and would not come to their aid anymore, too wrapped in her own grief. She had also never directly held him back, and for that he would grant her freedom from being hunted at this point in time. Age could claim her strength and ability first, and when the need should arise for him to kill her, she would be weakened by her own mortality to the point she would fall easily before him

Until then, his main concern was Minato, Jiraiya and their band of fools. He would need them assassinated as soon as possible, for the fool could only grow stronger and find ways to challenge Orochimaru indirectly until he found a way to fight on even footing. Orochimaru didn't intend to let that happen, and for that he would need ninja who would listen to his every order, and strong enough to challenge those with Minato and win.

Waving a hand at the Anbu to silence him, he smirked as the Anbu swallowed hard at being cut off before finishing his report. "I have business to attend to. I want you to bring me Juugo." The Anbu nodded before leaving in a flash of smoke.

Orochimaru smiled to himself as he leaned back in his chair. Soon he would be able to squash out the discontent growing among the ninjas he commanded, for many had raised questions about his ascension to power. Should his plan work, he would have an army that would obey his every order, and with it, he would be able to conquer every other ninja village when the time came.

X X X

3 Years Later

Minato pushed hard off the ground, and moved just in time to avoid being hit by the fireball that had been shot at him from the tree tops. Spinning around to meet his attacker in mid air, he grabbed Kakashi's wrist and used his own momentum to send the silver haired jounin well past Minato. Though there were no lethal jutsu being used, they all were clear on the rules of the spar. If Kakashi managed to land his spear hand on Minato, it would be considered a kill from his assassination technique. So far Minato had avoided ever being hit by it, but the boy had come close on various occasions, more so in the past few months as the results of their training began to show.

Using a kunai thrown into the cover of the trees behind him, Minato made shadow clones of the blade, using the vast number to hide his destination as he used a Hiraishin to move away from the fighting. Minato took a moment to hide his presence, and made sure to watch Kakashi as he jumped back into the cover of the trees as well. Another rule of the spar was to keep the fight fast paced, due to the uncertainty surrounding the benefits Orochimaru received from his demon tenant. If the man had inherited the fox senses as well, hiding would do Minato little good, and he trained as if he would have to continuously engage the enemy, whereas his opponents could hide and strike at their leisure.

Making sure he had Kakashi's location memorized, Minato threw another marked kunai, and transported the weapon far behind where he expected Jiraiya to be hiding.

Looking around where he ended up, he saw he was rather close to camp and within sight of Kushina as she worked around the camp and tried to keep the children entertained. Though she often complained about being left out of their training by leaving her to care for the young ones, he could tell by the smile she was wearing that she loved the chance to be with kids. Besides, they had rotating training schedules, and she would join in to help train Minato when she could, and in no way had her time away from combat dulled her skills. Kushina always provided him with an interesting challenge, and he enjoyed sparring with her the most out of anyone else. She had the uncanny ability to figure out just what he was thinking, and would capitalize on that in a fight, holding nothing back when she fought.

Minato took those thoughts with him as he sneaked back towards the training grounds, glad it wasn't Kushina he was sparring. While she would guess his plan from the start, he still had a chance against these two. Looking between the many trees, he located a small patch of white he associated with his sensei's hair, and seeing the man waiting for Minato to make an appearance, decided to change his plan slightly to have a bit of fun with his teacher. Minato created a shadow clone and sent it around to approach the clearing they were using from the direction a nearby village was closest to. Instead of using just any henge, Minato had the clone form a henge of a beautiful young girl, and had it step into the clearing.

The clone took a moment to look around and pouted, "Now where is that river? I'm so tired I just want to slip in and soak for the next three days." it let out in a throaty sigh.

From where he was watching his sensei, he could see the older man stiffen for a moment, then the sounds of a faint giggle floated to where he was hiding. Minato grinned, knowing he had caught his perverted teacher with his trick. Taking the opportunity presented to him, Minato appeared behind Jiraiya and tapped the man on the shoulder.

"I thought you were supposed to be helping me with my training, not ogling women, Sensei." Minato tried to keep his face serious, and almost lost control of his laughter when his teacher jumped a few feet in surprise at Minato's sudden arrival. He had to give the man credit though. Instead of trying to deny the allegation or to run away, he did the best thing he could, and jumped down next to the clone. No doubt Jiraiya believed that he would be able to escape being captured for now by helping what he believed to be a civilian away from their training, and Jiraiya proved him right when he turned to face the clone, hoping to engage it in conversation.

Instead he was faced with another Minato as the clone dropped it's henge, and before the old man could move, it placed a curled hand that represented the rasengan, on his chest. At the same time the real Minato standing in the trees disappeared and replaced himself with a nearby log a moment before Kakashi attacked it with a spear hand. Before the teen could realize his error, Minato was standing behind him as well, his hand curled yet again, against his back.

Jumping down to the clearing, Minato looked at the two men to see the annoyed and cheated looks on both their faces, and Minato fell to the ground laughing. Jiraiya stomped over to his laughing figure and glared down at him, "Just for that, you get to keep those damned weights on all night, and I expect you to keep that seal open another two hours."

Minato groaned now, and the other two laughed at how the tables had been turned on him now. The training method that Jiraiya was referring to was something they had developed a few months after they had left Konoha, and was designed to improve Minato's chakra reserves as well as his speed. It had come from something Kakashi had said when they were brainstorming ways to approach Minato's training, and had been born from thinking of another jounin Kakashi had known when they lived in Konoha. As Kakashi's sensei, he knew a good deal about the rivalry that had existed between Kakashi and Maito Gai, and though Kakashi had often complained about the other boy's eccentricities, no one could help but respect the Gai's ability.

Gai had been the first ninja in the history of the village to graduate the academy based solely on their ability in the field of taijutsu alone, and he had done it at the age of seven. A genius in the field of physical combat, he had also been allowed to train with weights and other equipment usually reserved for adults at a young age, and was known for his fanaticism when it came to training, pushing himself harder than almost anyone else in the village in order to improve his taijutsu ever further.

As if that weren't enough, he also had the ability to use the eight inner gates, a technique never seen before in Konoha. While many had known of it's existence, the boy had been the first to ever succeed in using it, and had driven many older ninja to explore the performance enhancing effects it gave, though none came close to Gai's ability to wielding it, and none could open as many of their gates as Gai could.

Having met the boy in the past, once Kakashi had reminded him of Gai's skills, it had been a simple matter of finding some way to use it himself in order to train. He had adopted a system of wearing weights infused with Chakra to help his body naturally become faster and stronger, and though he didn't always train with them on, it had helped his performance improve dramatically since he had begun using them. If he had believed himself fast before, it was nothing compared to the speed he had achieved using weights to train himself further.

The most important aspect they tried to copy though was the use of the inner gates. It had taken Jiraiya and himself months to finally devise a seal that would work, but in the end they had met with success. Instead of opening the gates fully and being exposed to the havoc it could cause on the body, the jutsu allowed a certain amount of chakra to be applied to the first gate, letting the user decide on how much control they wished to have over how much power they used with their muscles. It still was a dangerous thing to be doing to ones body, but with the proper training, the benefits had outweighed the risks greatly.

Pushing himself off the ground he took a moment to glare at Jiraiya, making sure to get his point across before smiling in a fake way so Jiraiya knew he was in for it. "Don't be surprised if Kushina finds out where you're hiding that manuscript for those novels of your's, Sensei." Jiraiya paled whereas Kakashi smirked at how the tables had been turned on Jiraiya. Turning to the boy Minato grinned again, "You're just as bad as he is. She may just find out where you're hiding those books Jiraiya writes."

Satisfied he had them both cowed enough, he got up and placed an arm around their shoulders, and all three of them began to head back towards the camping site. "So, about what we can all improve on..."

X X X

Kushina heard Minato and the others getting close to the camping site long before they came into view, each discussing various things about the training they had just gone through. She smiled and waited for them to arrive, eager to hear what they had done as well.

Once they came into view the small form she was holding in her lap started to wiggle and squirm, making it hard to hold onto, and with a exasperated sigh let it go, where after it instantly took off and attached itself to Minato's legs.

"DAD!" Naruto jumped up and down while holding on to the man's legs, grinning in that way fox like way he had inherited from his dad. Minato laughed, and reached down to pick up the boy, swinging him around and grinning back at the child. At Naruto's begging, Minato placed him on his back, where Naruto latched his arms around his neck to hold on, a giant grin on his face.

The other two men smiled at Kushina and nodded their greetings before splitting off from Minato. Jiraiya headed towards his tent, and Kakashi walked over to sit by Shikamaru, who was sitting in front of a go set frowning, and started a conversation with the boy. Though Minato and Jiraiya had been doubtful about how well he would pick up the game, Kakashi had seen something in Shikamaru and had begun teaching him the basics close to a year ago, and Shikamaru had quickly grasped the basic rules of the game. Her husband and his teacher were both wonderful with the children, but didn't spent quite as much time with them as she had, and hadn't seen just how sharp Shikamaru's mind was even at such a young age.

Kushina turned her attention back to Minato as he made his way over to her, and she smiled when he leaned over to kiss her on the cheek. Naruto though made a small sound of disgust at seeing her and Minato be affectionate, and stuck out his tongue, making Kushina laugh at his antics.

Feeling someone grab onto her shirt from behind, Kushina sighed, though she was still smiling. Hinata was a sweet little girl, and easier to handle than the energetic Naruto and an equally lazy Shikamaru. The poor girl though seemed to be incredibly shy despite being so sweet, and Kushina wondered how they were going to break her of the habit. Reaching behind her, Kushina placed a hand on Hinata's back and gently pushed her out into the open and towards Minato.

Fidgeting for a moment, Hinata pulled out a small flower and held it up to Minato, "I picked this for you, Minato-san." Kneeling down, Minato placed a hand on her head before taking the flower. "Thank you Hinata. It's nice to have something like this after a long day of training." Hinata beamed up at him when he said that then gave him a big hug around his legs before running over to watch Kakashi and Shikamaru.

Minato looked up at Kushina and gave her the same look he had given her many times since a conversation they had last year. It had been one of the first real arguments they had shared, and had been about the way in which they would raise Shikamaru and Hinata. They had decided to raise the children with full knowledge that they were not their parents, though they would care for them like they were their true parents, and show them all the affection they could ever want.

Surprisingly, it had been Minato who had argued that they be raised thinking they were their own children, but Kushina had countered with the fact it was an apparent lie, and though he hadn't liked her logic, he had finally agreed to go along with her wishes. Another reason had existed for Kushina though, and she had not told Minato the other reason she didn't want the children to be confused about their identity.

Though she was young, the obvious crush Hinata showed for Naruto was as cute as it was strong, and Kushina had her suspicion it would be something to continue even until the girl was old enough to understand what she was feeling. Perhaps Kushina had become a bit more sentimental and mushy when she had become a mother, but she wanted the two to be happy when they were older, and if Hinata saw Naruto as her brother, it could only cause trouble later.

Minato reached around to muss Naruto's hair, and then took the boy off of his shoulders, and put him on the ground. "Why don't you go play Naruto? Just make sure to stay right by the campsite in case something happens, all right?" The blond boy nodded then ran off, and Minato leaned over to give Kushina a proper kiss. Kushina wrinkled her nose jokingly at the smell of sweat on him, and scooted over so he could sit down next to her. "How was training?" She asked.

Minato leaned back against a tree, and Kushina leaned against him. "It was good, though I got myself sentenced to having to wear these weights tonight and keep the seal open for tricking Jiraiya." Kushina smirked at him, "Oh, is the great Yellow flash complaining about a little extra training now? Have you gotten soft?"

Minato snorted in amusement, "You want to try wearing all this weight and see what it's like?" Kushina raised an eyebrow, "I think I'll pass." Minato laughed at that, "Well, it certainly has helped, I'll give it that much. I think I am a good deal more powerful than Orochimaru was when we fought last time, and that's saying something I guess." Minato gave her a long look, his face serious, then he turned back to stare at the sky, "Seeing as I've progressed pretty far, I'm thinking it's about time to plan our return to Konoha as well."

Kushina nodded slowly, and looked up at the sky as well, thinking about what Minato had said. Or more like what he hadn't said with that statement. "But you're worried that he's gotten stronger too?" Minato sighed, "Yeah. There definitely is that possibility."

Kushina slipped her hand into his, "Well, a ninja can't always choose his battles. And you should know better than anyone you can't always go in to a fight knowing who is the clearly stronger fighter." Minato nodded. "I know. It's not that I am scared for myself, I just don't want to risk the children losing any of us if we go in unprepared. We're the only family they have, and though we've just started training them, I can't help but feel we may be throwing them to the wolves if don't return to care for them as they grow up."

Kushina didn't have anything to say to that, so she just squeeze his hand, and sat there with him, trying to be a comforting presence for him. As the minutes passed, they were just starting to enjoy their time together and relax when they suddenly stiffened.

Though there had been no obvious changes to their surroundings, they knew something had just happened, the sense that had grown in the during the war triggering alarms in their minds. Something wasn't right, and they were unsure of what it was yet.

Just as Kushina was about to turn to Minato to ask what had happened, Naruto came stumbling in from the bushes, his hand over his bloody side. A large hole that looked to have come from a kunai that had punctured clear through his side was pouring blood and Minato's hand squeezed Kushina's in an iron grip as they both started to feel a rage build in them at the sight.

Naruto stumbled another step forward, and from the bushes appeared a squad of Konoha Anbu, faces covered in the normal masks of their office, but that was where the normal resemblance ended. Each man was deformed, their bodies a crimson red and twisted into horrific shapes that chilled Kushina's blood.

Naruto looked up at them with wide fear filled eyes as tears streamed down his face, but not making a single sound of pain before he fell to the ground unconscious.

Pushing herself up from the ground, Kushina grabbed her nearby katana and unsheathed it in one quick motion, the roar escaping her lips without even thinking about it. "YOU WILL DIE FOR THAT!"

X X X

Seemed like a good place to end the chapter. :) And oh yes, I should let you all know, I am a sadist, so be prepared for cliff hangers or other such evil. :)

Not much to say about this chapter. I found it easier to get in to the mindset of Kushina than anyone else so far. I think this should worry me since she is, well, a mother, and I am most clearly a young male. I guess it's the whole tomboy thing, much easier to write than being a noble goody goody or a villian.

Anywho, sorry to those who want more screen time for Naruto, Hinata, and Shikamaru. I know some stories with strangely intelligent young Naruto's, but I never bought it. I will buy Shikamaru just starting to come in to his intelligence, but even he is still just 3 years old. He won't be Einstein for awhile yet.

And for those who like fights, stay tuned. I love writing fight scenes, and I am glad I got to a major one. It will be a lot of fighting in the next chapter. We get to see the results of everyone's training when against cursed seal ninjas. Cursed seal sound too boring for you? Just wait. It isn't as simple as you might think.

Again, please write reviews. Not only does it help me stroke my ego a bit, it helps me grow as a writer. This is sort of the starting point for me honing my skills to write a book that I've had in mind for years, so feedback is amazing.

Until next time!


	3. A Hero's Folly

Not much to say here. Addressed most of the comments and questions I got in the Author Notes at the end. Only one quick thing, to those who do not like how I handle Jutsu names, either dropping things like a 'no' or not even naming them, two reasons. Even though I speak Japanese pretty well by now, this is a story in English. I am trying to use grammar that makes sense for the story. So I am trying to figure out a good balance of things like Honorifics to include or not. Sorry if throws some of you off. Second, I am not so good at Japanese as to make up crazy names for techniques, so I just describe their effect. Only major ones get names.

Righty O. On to the story. I hope you enjoy.

All Rights to Kishimoto-san.

Rekindle: A Hero's Folly

Pushing herself up from the ground, Kushina grabbed her nearby katana and unsheathed it in one quick motion, the roar escaping her lips without even thinking about it. "YOU WILL DIE FOR THAT!"

Kushina turned to stare at Kakashi. "Take the children to the designated place, take Naruto with you and don't stop until we arrive." Kakashi nodded, and with a quick summoning, had placed the other two children on top of two hounds. Though they appeared scared, they had been told often that if anything were to ever happen, to listen to the adults. It seemed that the message had gotten through enough that the could still be made to obey.

Small blessings indeed.

Kushina continued to glare at the men in front of her, and felt her husbands Chakra rise and exceed her own, his blood lust and killer intent rolling off of him in waves. They practically dared the men to try something as Kakashi unobtrusively went over to grab Naruto before going back to the other children and leaving with him.

It was then that Jiraiya showed up as well, his own Chakra spiking at the sight of Naruto's blood on the ground, and now the three of them stared down the 5 man squad in front of them.

Finally one of the men stepped forward, revealing his mask as being marked in red patterns, a sign that he was the captain of this squad. "We are ordered here to either kill you or bring you back to Konoha for a public execution for treason against the village. Will you come without putting up a struggle?"

Kushina glared at him. "You just fucking stabbed my little boy, what do you think asshole?" Her anger made her go back to her younger days and the language came out without thinking about it, but she didn't care. These men had attacked her family, and she would be repaid in their blood.

"That is an unfortunate response. I regret this could not have gone easily." With that the Anbu began spreading out, moving to encircle their group.

Barely moving his head and not taking his eyes off of the enemies, Minato whispered "Try to not kill them. They're still Konoha ninjas." Kushina snarled at her husband, "You say not to kill them when they did that to Naruto?!"

Minato frowned in such a way she knew he was really angry. "Do you think I don't WANT to hurt them for it?! But think about it. Do they look human to you anymore? Who do we know that plays with people for his own amusement and would do such a thing to them? Do you honestly think they would do something like that if they hadn't been affected by Orochimaru?"

Kushina let out a long breath and mastered herself. "Fine. But when we get our hands on that fucking snake Orochimaru, I am going to make him wish he died for every second our son has to suffer because of him."

He nodded. "Fair enough, just after I skin him alive." With that, all three nodded before leaping at a the Anbu, and starting the fight.

X X X

Jiraiya watched as the Anbu stalked him, making sure to not lose sight of the falcon masked man when he would slip behind a tree. A small part of him felt offended that they would only deem one Anbu necessary to take down a Sannin like him, but he supposed he shouldn't go fishing for danger either. Besides, in the ninja world, when it came to looks it was often safe to say that the odder the ninja looked, the more dangerous they were, and this ninja was just ODD.

The man's skin was a rust red and had little knobs and ridges all over it. It gave him the appearance of an urchin almost, with all the protrusions on his body.

Deciding to get the show on the road, he pulled a book from his back pocket, and turned it up and grinned at the Anbu, pointing to the cover. "If you don't mind leaving, I'll give you this free copy of my unpublished book Icha Icha Hideout. I bet Orochimaru must be peeved that he can't track down how I am publishing them and I know he has banned them in Konoha. Just imagine having this absolute gem all to yourself?" Jiraiya waggled his eyebrows at the ninja and instead of replying, the ninja lunged at him and put a hand through the Jiraiya. Jiraiya only pouted before disappearing in a puff of smoke and the real Jiraiya appeared behind him, his hand glowing and aimed for the spinal accessory nerve in the Anbu's neck.

As soon as he touched the ninjas neck though he knew he had been too slow to attack. The ninja had already replaced himself with a log that had an explosive tag on it, causing Jiraiya to curse. He hadn't lived through as much as he had without learning a few things, though, and Jiraiya used the split second he had to look around instead of panicking, and found where the ninja was hiding. Using another Kawarimi, he replaced the log with another one by the enemy ninja and was satisfied to hear the man grunt in pain as he got burned by the explosion set off right next to him.

Using the chance he had, he went through a number of handseals before placing his hands palm down on to the ground, and causing the earth to rise up around the ninjas legs, encasing them in a mud reinforced with Chakra. When it was strong enough that he was confident that the ninja couldn't move his legs, he began to walk over to knock the ninja out only to pull up short as the ninja did the most disgusting thing he had seen in a long time.

Reaching up to his shoulders, the ninja grabbed hold of two of the protrusions and pulled, leaving gaping holes in his shoulders and creating a sick wet pop as they left him. He also noticed how the things defied all reason, being as long as kali sticks.

Sensing that the ninja was trying to find a way to escape, he had just enough time to use a toad summon. Knowing whatever was about to happen would probably be a sign of something bad for him, he wanted a strong battle toad, but the area wasn't nearly large enough to warrant some of the larger toad warriors he could summon. Instead, he settled on a toad armed with two swords who stood a little taller than himself. He had fought with this toad before, and he trusted him to watch his back in a battle against difficult opponents.

All of this happened in a moment, and as soon as the toad had appeared, the ninja had smashed the mud around his legs, causing it to crumble into dust around him.

Jiraiya sighed. He was going to have to remind Minato how much of a pain capturing or incapacitating an enemy could be compared to just outright killing them, even if he didn't like the thought of killing a fellow leaf ninja either.

Jiraiya leaned back just in time to avoid a strike aimed at his head from the stick, and twisted his body to avoid the jab at his midsection, landing a punch on the man's kidney's before dancing back. It was then that he felt the pain hit him. Across his face and along his stomach he could feel burns forming on his skin, and moving quickly he went in to his pouch to swipe at the all purpose ointment he kept in there, spreading it over the burn on his face. He felt the burning sensation die down quickly, and was glad he had learned to carry such things during the Ninja war.

It seemed his opponent had more up his sleeve than he guessed, and he had a sinking feeling he knew what it was. "Watch out, Gamaken. Those sticks are loaded with youki somehow, one direct hit and you'll go back to being a tadpole." The toad gave him a nod and drew it's swords. "Remember the last time we fought? Go with that plan." Again, the toad nodded, remembering how he had helped the summoner in the war on a handful of occasions, but especially remembering that last battle in which they fought against 3 squads of Rock Anbu at once. It had been a desperation move, but had turned out so well that it fast became a strategy that Jiraiya had added to his normal arsenal.

Jiraiya jumped away from the Anbu just as he began to rush at him, who seemed intent on ending the fight quickly before Jiraiya could perform any seals. The Anbu was forced to defend as the toad came in, though, who was attacking with both of it's blades at once, using his kali to defend against the longer weapons. The toad couldn't risk being too offensive with the chance that one hit could destroy it, but it accomplished it's purpose having bought Jiraiya enough time to finish his Jutsu. " Doton: Yomi Numa".

All around the two combatants a deep swamp appeared, causing both to be slowly be pulled under in it's depths. He wouldn't be surprised if the Anbu had someway out of this technique as well, so he wouldn't give the man a chance to show him just how creative he could be.

As soon as the swamp appeared he was pleased to see how Gamaken had begun to spit up the oil before diving under the swamp and begin swimming for the edge. Waiting a moment to make sure the toad was a safe distance away, he brought his hands up in a seal, and let lose a long stream of fire from his mouth, turning the entire swamp in an inferno, with the ninja at the center of it. With whatever modifications Orochimaru had done to the man, he doubted it would kill him, but he wasn't surprised to see once the fire had died down that the man was lying quite unconscious in the center of where the fire and swamp had once been.

Taking a moment to breath deeply, he nodded his thanks to Gamaken, who bowed slightly before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

The fight hadn't been so difficult, really, especially in part due to the training of the past three years, but the fact that the man had used Youki worried Jiraiya. Somehow, whatever Orochimaru had done to the poor man had given him some access to his own power. Turning in the direction of Konoha, the all too familiar feeling of deep regret struck him as he thought about how bad things must be there under the rule of Orochimaru.

X X X

"I do believe I should feel insulted at being left with the weakest of the group." The Anbu's voice was cold, and Kushina raised an eyebrow at the slight, but let it go by. Some ninjas preferred to try and make their opponents attack blindly in rage.

She had plenty of rage, but she would make sure every bit of it directed at the man hurt.

"Perhaps I should have done your son a service in outright killing him. Once we murder his father, such a weak woman would be unable to care for him properly." Now Kushina let her killing intent go, and was pleased to see the man flinch. The bastard was probably rather sadistic before whatever Orochimaru did to him made him the type to attack little boys. Nevertheless, "Minato said not to kill you. But you can live without a few limbs, right?"

Lunging at the ninja she brought her sword parallel with her face and made to thrust at him, only to push off her leading foot at the last second when she felt the air in front of her suddenly become superheated, and only just got far enough back before red Chakra escaped the ninjas skin and occupy the place she had just been for a moment before returning to inside the man.

The Anbu smirked at her, but she just gave the man a cold smile as a line of blood appeared on his cheek, and grinned at the incredulous look on his face. Flicking the drop of blood off the end of her sword, she brought it back up into guard, "Shall I show you why you NEVER attack my family, little ninja?"

Despite that, in the first few moments of the battle, Kushina could tell she was losing. She knew she was the better ninja, and more skilled than her opponent, but he had a habit of releasing that red Chakra from his body at random intervals, and especially when she came close enough to attack. She had already skimmed by one such tendril, and was suffering a rather bad burn on her shoulder to show for it. If she wanted to win this fight, she would have to end it quickly, before he found a way to take advantage of her current inability to attack.

Sizing up her opponent for a moment, she noted the confident smirk the man was wearing, and also the way he was casually letting more of that red Chakra out now than he had when they begun the fight. He probably wanted to not waste too much energy on fighting her until he was sure she was tired, but she knew how she could use it against him now.

Pulling two kunai that had already been marked with explosive notes from her pouch, she threw them at the ninja, not surprised in the least when he casually dodged them and let them sail past him. Gripping her sword in both hands again, she began a complicated kata, forcing the ninja back. Every few moments she would have to forego a step in the kata to side step a brush of the red Chakra before going back on the offensive. The ninja seemed to be concentrated solely on defending against her attacks before noticing that they had arrived in the clearing the kunai had landed in, and as if on cue, one of the kunai exploded right behind the man. His Chakra rose up to shield him from the worst of the explosion, but it had given Kushina enough time to withdraw a smoke bomb and throw it into the center of the clearing. This time the ninja made sure to take the other kunai in to account, and instead of try to escape, opted for using even more of his Chakra to destroy the kunai and the smoke.

That had been just what Kushina had hoped for. Placing her sword tip first in to the ground, she used the few second she had form a complex Jutsu, just finishing it at the man's Chakra wavered. She had noticed as the man started to use the Chakra more frequently, that each time he used it, it required him a second to let it return to his body before he could summon it again.

As the red Chakra started to enter the man again, she clamped her hands in the last seal and a tornado sprung into life around her, having room to move in the clearing they were in. Picking up her sword, she launched herself at the ninja, her blade piercing the winds when the ninja least expected it, and the winds providing her with a shield to attack from behind while the mans Chakra was absent.

The fight ended in a moment. After a few seconds the wind died down, and lying before her was the ninja, a hole in his side where Naruto's own wound had been. Worse than that, though, was that the man was missing a leg and a hand. Kushina never wanted such a sadistic man to be a ninja again, knowing that such a wound would leave him unable to continue without extensive medical treatment.

The man had already passed out from the pain, and she leaned over, using a basic medical Jutsu to stop the flow of blood to his wounds. She had promised to let him live, but she wouldn't provide him comfort from his injuries. Making sure her work was adequate enough he wouldn't die of shock, she inserted some extra Chakra in to the wounds to destroy the nerve endings. She wanted to make sure no medic ninja could ever hope to repair the damage she did to him.

Wiping her sword off on his clothing, she sheathed the blade and began heading back to where the fight started in hopes of finding everyone else alive and well.

X X X

Minato was not foolish enough to fight with limitations when it mattered. At the start of the fight he had set his weights so they wouldn't hinder him, and stopped maintaining the seal. If he truly needed it, he could reactivate it simply enough, but he couldn't afford the drain on his Chakra.

He watched as the three ninjas tried to encircle him and waited until they were spread out before using his Hiraishin Jutsu to teleport behind the most injured of the three. He had managed to land a Rasengan on the ninja early on in the fight, right before they had summoned some of that red Chakra to attack him with. Judging by the firey nature of it, and how it just felt entirely different from human chakra, he was pretty sure that they were using Youki against him, which would explain in part the changes in their looks. If they were drawing some power from Orochimaru, he had probably performed some sort of experiment on them to make it work.

Just as he was about to land a blow to the back of the ninjas head, the other two that had been circling around revealed themselves as bunshins by disappearing with the real ninjas leaping from their hiding places. Using their kunai, they stabbed him in the stomach, only to find that the Minato they thought they had stabbed disappearing in a puff of smoke.

A split second later the real Minato had put a Rasengan through the tree by the three ninjas, showering them in splinters and blowing them away further in to the forest. He was glad that the concept of team work hadn't died with Orochimaru's reign, even if it made things harder on him here.

Dashing again to the most wounded man, he used the opportunity to use a Chakra infused palm to strike him hard in the stomach while he was still on the ground, knocking the wind out of him and keeping him out of the fight for the moment before he jumped into the trees to avoid a kunai.

Minato shook his hand, trying to restore some feeling to it. Though he had used Chakra to guard his hand, his skin still was turning pink in a light burn. Fighting enemies he couldn't touch was always something he hated as a close in fighter.

Sighing, he made another clone and once it had henged, he threw it where the other ninja had attacked him from. Not surprisingly he missed, but instead of worrying about that, he moved back in to the clearing they had found themselves fighting in, facing one of the Anbu with the other mysteriously absent.

Sliding in to a TaiJutsu stance, he made as if to fight the Anbu when a large explosion and a gale of wind passed through the clearing. In a rush, the memories of his clone came back to him. As he had expected, the other Anbu had tried to administer first aid for his fallen comrade and move him to safety when the henged clone had struck. Using a rather volatile air Jutsu, the clone had been destroyed but also managed to take out the Anbu with minor injuries being added to his fallen comrade.

Sliding back in to a more neutral stance, he stared at the Anbu in front of him. "Go administer emergency first aid. Any sign of a Jutsu or an attempt to revive them, and I will kill you and your comrades outright." The Anbu nodded and walked over to the other two, Minato shadowing him and getting in to an advantageous position. He was honorable, but not a fool. He wouldn't let them earn back their advantage, and he wanted a good position to start the fight from when the Anbu finished. Sending out another clone he let it enter the clearing with the Anbu to watch from another angle.

The Anbu, who turned out to be the captain of the squad, worked quickly. Checking for pulses then taking care of the worst wounds, which included a large gash caused by the Wind Jutsu a little too close to the armpit for comfort.

Not looking up from his work, the Anbu addressed the clone. "I'm sorry for this, Hokage-sama." The clone and the real Minato raised an eyebrow at the title, but stayed silent as the man cringed and held his head for a moment before going back to his work. "Orochimaru-sama has complete control over our actions. We live to serve him, and the seal has no room build in for disobedience."

Minato pitied the man. He probably had been just as surprised at the sudden change in leadership as everyone else, and now was caught in the games of Orochimaru, forced in to servitude for a man he didn't even care to follow. "Is there anything you can tell me about Konoha?

The man finished tying off the bandage around the gash and stood up began to double check his work, making sure he had missed nothing before standing up. "Only Jounins and above have been forced to accept the seal you see me and my men using. Orochimaru claims those who die when he places it on them were lost in some sort of dangerous mission when questioned by the fire lord. And with his previous success and the increase in high level missions Konoha has taken on, no one dares oppose him about it. Also, the children who show the most promise or are children of different bloodlines have the seal as well from the rank of Chuunin onwards. As such, You need not worry about many more teams of our level fighting you often however, as Orochimaru uses them for other tasks. Other than that, there is nothing else I can tell you."

Minato nodded, "I understand, you have my thanks."

The Anbu shook his head before raising a kunai, "Do not thank me yet, we still have a fight to finish."

"Indeed." With that, the two of them rushed at each other, and started the fight once more.

X X X

Minato had just finished tying the bandage around the Anbu captains wounds when Kushina and Jiraiya appeared behind him, a bit dirty, but otherwise unharmed.

Standing up and lightly rubbing a burn on his forearm, he grinned at the other two. "Surprisingly strong, weren't they?"

Kushina nodded, and Jiraiya sighed. "Considering they did as well as they did against three people who could possibly considered Kage level ninjas, much stronger than expected." Though Jiraiya tried to keep his voice light, Minato hear the worry in his voice. "They even seemed to have some basic control over their Youki, and judging by the burns you two have, I would say they all used it as a weapon to some degree."

This time it was Minato who nodded, "Indeed. But I was lucky enough to find out that only the upper level ninjas have this curse seal, and the success rate doesn't sound too high. Still, it makes our lives much more difficult."

As if in some sort of cosmic joke, a sudden and oppressive Chakra pressed down on them from all sides as Orochimaru walked out from the bushes. "Ahh, but I think it's much more difficult right now, don't you?"

Minato stepped in front of the others, acting as their shield. "Go to Kakashi, right now." He had taken on the tone of a Hokage, compassionate, but with no room for insubordination. "Check on Naruto and then escape, I will follow soon enough."

Jiraiya nodded and jumped back, but Kushina took a moment to grab his sleeve, and gave him a hard glare. "Don't play the hero this time. Just buy us enough time then come back to help your son. And don't get killed either, or I'll have to find you in the after life and kick your butt for leaving us alone."

Minato smiled at her and nodded before she left too.

"So Orochimaru, how does it feel knowing you are the leader of a people you had to force into subservience?" Orochimaru shrugged, "So long as they follow my orders, it bothers me not how I go about it."

He growled a bit. "I will never understand how Sarutobi let you come so far, you've always been a cowardly snake." Orochimaru narrowed his eyes at him, and his Chakra inched higher. "Coming from the Hokage who abandoned his people to run away. How rich."

Minato shook his head. "You'll never understand. I ran so I could kill you, and here I am now in front of you. You run from your own death and from the thought that someone might be better than you. You are nothing more than a cowardly tyrant and I intend to stop you."

Orochimaru sneered, "We shall see." Signaling the start of their fight Minato began running through the trees, leading Orochimaru away from the fallen Anbu. Reaching a large clearing in the trees, he pulled a handful of kunai infused with the Hiraishin seal on them and threw them, using the kage shuriken technique to cover their movement. He had just finished the technique when Orochimaru appeared in front of him, his hand coming across in a back fist aimed for his face. Leaning back, he avoided the punch and used the motion to shoot out a thrust kick, landing it hard into Orochimaru's stomach before jumping back. He was pleased to see Orochimaru take a moment to catch his breath before standing back up. Feeling a warm sensation around his foot, he noticed how his shoe's rubber had melted somewhat from the contact with the Kyuubi container.

'Well, no one ever said it would be easy.' he thought before using the Hiraishin Jutsu to get behind Orochimaru as the Sannin lunged at him to attack again.

The fight continued that way for the next ten minutes, the two exchanging blows at rapid pace. Usually blocking or avoiding the others attack entirely before trying to counter, most of which were defended against as well. Minato could tell that they were roughly equal in terms of speed and power, but even with the Jutsu designed to increase his speed and power, he could tell Orochimaru had the slight edge. With his ability to use youki to protect his body, and his ability to stand up after almost any attack looking like he hadn't been injured, he knew he was painting himself in to a corner. If he wanted to either kill Orochimaru, or find a way to escape to the others if the fight dragged on, he would have to do something drastic and quickly.

Summoning a group of clones, he began to circle Orochimaru, having the clones teleport between kunai to make it harder to follow his motion. With that, he launched a complicated offensive, appearing around Orochimaru in odd ways, performing combinations that normally would have been too complex without multiple people and the Hiraishin.

Most of the attacks Orochimaru found some way to counter of evade, but one particularly satisfying attack had been an elbow meant for the back of his skull before he teleported into a kneeling position in front of the man and drove his elbow in to his crotch. The clone had been destroyed by a hammer first the snake Sannin landed on it a moment later, but it was nice to see that some of the normal weak points on the body still hurt the Sannin.

The fight continued in that manner for another few moments before Orochimaru found a flaw in the offensive and struck, landing a side kick to his ribs, and he felt a few snap under the force of the attack. His large Chakra and mastery over the Hiraishin Jutsu had been what allowed him to fight on a level footing with this man, but he was losing, and he needed to make sure his son was alive. The thought of not making it back to help his son decided it, the next move would be his last. Even if he were only able to buy time to escape, that would be more than enough.

Summoning five more clones, Minato carefully hid his motion in with theirs, hanging back just enough to not arose suspicious, but enough he could prepare for what would hopefully be his final attack. The clones having known what he planned seemed to all decide at the same time that the moment was right, and spread out. The next moment they launched themselves at Orochimaru, spread out in such a way that the only place Orochimaru could hope to fight from what right where he was.

He also wasn't disappointed to see Orochimaru opt to destroy them all at once by momentarily bringing out the youki at his command, destroying all five clones at the same time. In the split second after he had to attack with, Minato finished a set of seals he had begun under the guise of the attack, and rushed in, using a fairly weak wind technique, and slammed his hand on Orochimaru's chest, causing winds to spring up around him, blocking him from the outside world.

Taking the opportunity he had created, he took a moment to breath deeply before putting a large sum of Chakra in to his hand, forming a large Rasengan. 'Here goes nothing,' he thought.

Instead of dropping the cyclone and letting Orochimaru prepare an attack, Minato shoved his hand through the wind and put his Rasengan through the stomach of Orochimaru, his blood flying and staining the cyclone red before it fell around him.

Taking a step back, he watched as Orochimaru collapsed to the ground in front of him, and he couldn't feel any Chakra or Youki coming off of the man. Breathing a sigh of relief, and wincing at the act when he ribs reminded him they needed medical attention, he turned his back on the fallen man, glad for the end of a three year long conflict. Right now all he wanted was to see his son and make sure everyone else was well before resting for a good long while.

His blind desire to see his son proved to be the biggest mistake of his entire ninja career. As he began to form the seals to teleport him to Kushina and Naruto, he felt a pain like none he had ever felt before go through his chest before he saw the tip of a sword appear through his chest. The pain spread around one side of his chest and his breath started to come in ragged pants, and with each breath it felt as if he were inhaling liquid fire.

Looking over his shoulder, he saw Orochimaru standing there perfectly whole and smirking at him. How could he have forgotten that the man, like any second year academy student could do, knew how to mask his energy to hide from stronger ninjas.

Using the last bit of his energy, he stepped off the blade and just poured all the Chakra in to his Jutsu, managing to teleport away before the blade passed where his head had once been.

He didn't get to hear the snarl from Orochimaru at being thwarted once again.

X X X

Kushina was pressing a gauze against Naruto's wound as they rode on the back of a large hound Kakashi had summoned. She wasn't even looking up when they came to an abrupt stop, and when she looked up at the sound of a gasp from Kakashi and Jiraiya, she saw her husband lying on the road in front of them.

Jumping with Naruto in her arms, she landed next to him, fighting to hold back tears as she saw so much blood coming out of a wound in his chest. Jiraiya was already trying to heal it when Minato grabbed his hands in his own. "It won't kill me right away, Sensei. We need to escape first." Kushina gave him a small teary eyed glare and he smiled at her, letting go of Jiraiya's hands, letting him get back to work even as he talked.

"And what do you recommend?"

Minato closed his eyes and winced as a rack of pain came over him. Finally he took a shuddering deep breath to speak, "Sensei. I know you didn't want to drag her in to this, but we have to find Tsunade. I know you know where she is from your spy network."

Now it was his turn to be on the end of her glare. "You knew and it wasn't the first thing you recommended when Naruto got hurt?!" Jiraiya turned to her, his face somber and looking older than his years. "That's right. I have no way of knowing if she will even help with Minato here injured right in front of her. She swore off all medical Jutsu once her loved ones died, and I for one, didn't want to put her through any more pain when his wound wasn't fatal."

Kushina let the matter drop, even if she didn't agree with his reasoning, and far from ready to forgive the old man. "But Minato's is, so tell us where she is." Jiraiya looked back at Minato and then sighed. "It's impossible, she is on the other side of country from us. I doubt Minato could make it a quarter of the way there at this rate."

Minato shook his head. "Hiraishin Jutsu. Just stop the bleeding for now and lend me all of your Chakra, I can get us there. Then Kakashi can use a hunting dog to track her down the last bit of the way. You know I have my seal spread out all over the country in case."

Jiraiya frowned but nodded, and went over to collect the other two frightened children. Placing his hands on Minato's shoulders along with Kushina and Kakashi's, they poured their Chakra into Minato, and a bit of color returned to his face before he brought his hands up to form a seal.

Kushina gave her husband one last encouraging smile before he nodded and they all were instantly moved to where they could hopefully find Tsunade.

X X X

**Author Notes:**

Okay, I seriously NEED to get work done this weekend, but this damned story has been whirling about in my thoughts all day. So I had to get it down on my computer. Just watch, when I have all the time in the world to write, I won't know at all what I want to say.

Right, ending the rant. Hopefully you all enjoyed the chapter. I had to make some big decisions on where I was going to go with the story in this chapter. I like to think I made the ones both I and everyone who actually reads my humble stories will enjoy. I know some of you will not like how foolish Minato was at the end, but two things. One, for my story to work, it needed to be done, and more importantly two, people make mistakes. It happens, we move on, his was just a bit worse than most others. To quote a video game, _"Stupidity in battle is rewarded by two things: pain, and then, no pain."_ (Kudos if you know where it comes from.)

A couple things to note, I got a review from someone talking about how powerful Orochimaru is now and needing to up the ante on the story until it's an all out power fest. I just want to let everyone know that I have already taken that in to account, so please bear with me. I might even address it in the next chapter. Depends on how the story comes to me at the time whether it will be a good time to insert it or not.

Also, notice that the fights were not all out power struggles. I like to keep things fairly even for the most part, so while the Minato, Kushina, and Jiraiya are much stronger now, so are the people they fought, so the fight didn't seem as insane. I wish the fights could have detailed more TaiJutsu battles, which I like to write, but it just didn't fit in to the plot. Also, don't expect that the only change to the curse seal is that they can use Youki as a shield or a weapon. It can get stranger, trust me, I am planning on it. :)

I also got a message asking about how quickly I plan to make the story progress. I don't like making stories that are done in only 4 or 5 chapters, but I promise to try and not let the story stagnate too much and to always keep it aimed at the final goal of defeating Orochimaru. The story will span years, but obviously there will be some time skips involved, so fear not.

Also, the votes are in, meaning I decided, that it will be Shika/Temari. Sorry to Ino lovers out there, I don't hate her, but I just can't deny she a great match for Shikamaru, no matter the plot.

Anyways, until next time. Given I have exams every day of the week next week, I don't see another chapter coming until next Saturday at the earliest. So stay safe and try and have a good week everyone.


	4. End of an Era

Didn't turn out the way I had envisioned it, but I hope you will put up with this chapter and maybe even enjoy it.

All Rights to the People who made it first.

Rekindle: End of an Era

X X X

Kakashi looked over his shoulder at his teacher, strapped to the back of a large hound, his face pale and a large bandage over his shoulder, the relatively fresh gauze becoming stained red from his blood.

Looking across from him, he saw another blonde, also wrapped in a bandage, though he seemed to be resting much more comfortably than his father, despite having his own wounds to deal with. Instead of worrying about the oddity, he merely filed it away for a later time, and turned back to the dog in front of him.

"How much longer, Pakkun?" The dog looked over its shoulder while still running. "Not long now. She should be in the next town; I can smell the people in it about three miles ahead."

Kakashi nodded and fell back to inform Jiraiya. "We're almost there. After that it's up to you to get Tsunade to help us." Jiraiya sighed, "Hopefully seeing Minato right in front of her she won't think to refuse."

Kakashi nodded, but gave the older man an odd look. "If she doesn't, and my Sensei dies, I will make sure she pays for it." With that, he moved back to the front of the group, following the tracking dog.

He could feel Jiraiya's stare on his back, but ignored it. He knew it was a bit presumptuous to threaten a Sannin. He was stronger now than he had ever thought he would be by only 17, though, three years of training with two of the greatest ninja to ever be seen would do that he supposed. Still, to challenge someone like Tsunade who was a genius in her own right and had years of experience would be foolish.

The problem was he couldn't think of losing his Sensei.

He had become a lot more relaxed in the years following Obito's death, with Sensei's help he hadn't been absorbed by his grief, and had come to handle his dual identity a bit better. He now shared part of his body with the boy he used to call foolish, and privately thought of as useless whenever he caused them to fail a mission. Yet now he couldn't think of anyone he would have felt more honored to have received a transplant from. The result had been his own slightly more serious had nature blended in with Obito's more foolish mannerisms, and to be honest, it made him much happier than he had been before.

His attention was brought back to the present when it seemed that fate was favoring them, finally, and after a day of nonstop running, they saw someone leaving the town on the road ahead of them. Though he had only met her a handful of times through his Sensei before she left the village, Kakashi recognized the women coming towards them. The Slug Sannin and her apprentice Shizune.

Raising a hand to bring the hounds to a halt, he and Jiraiya stepped forward to greet the pair, and upon seeing them, Tsunade's eyes narrowed, glaring Jiraiya, probably having figured out exactly how she was discovered.

"Jiraiya. To what do I owe the displeasure?" Instead of replying, he stepped aside, letting Minato come in to view, causing Tsunade to pale and take a step back. Raising her hands in front of her, she took a step back as Shizune rushed to check on Minato. "No no no. You know I swore off being a Medic Nin Jiraiya, go elsewhere."

"Tsunade! You have to help. Do you even know what's happened in Konoha, the place your own family built? Minato is our only hope right now, and if you don't help him, he's going to die." Jiraiya looked desperate, walking right up to Tsunade and grabbing her shoulders. "I know you still care, and I know you can't turn down a patient. I know what you went through, but for yourself and everyone, you have to move on and help us, PLEASE."

Tsunade was shaking in his grip, and Kakashi saw her look between Jiraiya and Sensei. Finally she looked at Shizune who shook her head. "Tsunade-sama. If you don't help him soon he WILL die, I can't heal something like this yet."

Tsunade looked torn for a second, but as she started to take a step forward, a dark look passed her face and she stopped, posture turning stubborn. "No. He made his decision to sacrifice himself for a stupid village. It's his own fault."

Kakashi started to step forward, but was beaten by Kushina, who walked up to the Sannin and slapped her hard enough that the Sannin's head snapped back. Turning back to face Kushina, she brought her hand to slap back but Kushina's hand gripped her wrist and held it there. "Worthless Coward. Don't pass judgment on Konoha; you're too much of a coward to be allowed to give your opinion."

Tsunade opened her mouth to protest, but Kushina shook her head. "No, you will listen to me woman." Tsunade's eyes widened and Kakashi could only guess it had been awhile since the legendary Ninja had been dressed down to. "You are not special. I am truly sorry for your lose, and if it were possible, anyone here would find a way to undo it for you, but that does not mean you are special. If Minato or my son dies because of you, we all will lose someone special to us, just like you, just like countless ninjas and civilians before us."

Taking a deep breath, it looked as if Kushina was trying to reign in her temper before continuing. "Your teammate of all people, someone you should care for like a brother, is about to lose someone he sees as a son, a pain you should know well, and you instead stand on your pedestal and order he must suffer like you." Kakashi turned to see Jiraiya looking away, and couldn't decide if the man looked ready to defend his teammate, or just give up in defeat.

"Get over yourself." Kushina pushed on. "You don't have to forget your lover or brother, but you do them no service letting a man who has done nothing but protect the dreams of people like those you loved, die. Now, will you stop being the simpering coward and show us the reason you are considered a legendary medical ninja, or should we let you go back to cowering in your fear like a little child?" Kushina let go of Tsunade's arm and stood in her face, eye's blazing and not backing down an inch as the older woman looked down at the ground between their feet, tears building up in her eyes.

As the moment dragged on, Jiraiya finally straightened himself up to his full height and came over, placing a hand on Tsunade's shoulder. "Despite being angry at your leaving, I promised I wouldn't force you to stay or take back up your medic's oath. So all I can do is just beg of you to help my Student and his son. Not just for them and Konoha, but for yourself." Jiraiya gave her a small grin, "You're a shadow of your bombshell self, old lady."

Kakashi missed the movement, but in the next second Jiraiya was on the ground, sporting a large bruise on the top of his head as Tsunade snorted. "Call me that again, and you'll get what's coming to you, you old pervert." Drawing herself up, she turned to face Kushina full on.

"Right, move out of the way so I can get to work."

X X X

Kushina made another pass around the campsite, her eyes darting to the tent that Tsunade and Shizune were in, once more at work on Minato. Despite Tsunade's brave words, it had taken her a while to get used to blood again, and had to have Shizune take over at one point while she had taken a moment to compose herself. Yet she had gotten over it, and had stabilized Minato before moving on to Naruto. Tsunade had claimed Minato needed some time to let a Jutsu used take effect and help him produce more blood before further work on his chest wound.

What she had found with Naruto though had Kushina worried. She wasn't worried in a bad way, but something about the situation had been all wrong, such as the fact that Naruto's stab wound had been able to heal so much in a little over a day.

Tsunade had thought she had been overreacting about the danger of the Naruto's wound, but when everyone explained the type of wound he had only taken a day before, Tsunade had looked perplexed. After performing what had looked like a scan, she had pulled Kushina off to the side while Shizune finished working with her son.

She cut to the chase. "Did you notice anything strange about that boy's wounds when you were transporting him here?"

Kushina thought about it before answering, "Not really, but I was a bit panicked. I just changed the field dressing." Tsunade nodded, "And the amount of blood?"

Again Kushina took a moment to come up with her answer, "I guess it slowed after awhile, but there was still so much of it, I didn't think of it."

"Exactly." Tsunade leaned against a tree. "For a three year old boy, even a shot like that, which missed anything vital, by all rights should have caused him to bleed to death. Yet he didn't. More surprisingly is the fact that most of the internal damage had already healed to a certain degree. I wouldn't say he was in good shape, but the wound looked like it had been allowed to heal for closer to a week than just a single day."

"My clan did have a blood limit related to wounds though, could that have done it?"

Tsunade nodded, "Yes, but let me ask you, can you think of anyone in your clan who could have healed quite that bad a wound at that young an age? I read the file on your clan, and I know it has never been that strong." She stopped and for a moment Kushina got a glimpse of what must have made Tsunade go in to medicine in the first place, Tsunade looked almost excited before turning stoic again. "I looked in to what his chakra was doing, and trust me when I say that boy is amazing."

Kushina waited as Tsunade seemed to find a way to express what she meant, and was surprised what Tsunade said next. "Let me examine you for a second." Kushina raised an eyebrow, "And this has to do with Naruto... how?" Tsunade glared at Kushina, causing Kushina to gulp a bit, remembering just who she was dealing with. If the Sannin thought it was important and relevant, she would go along with it for the moment, and gave her consent. Standing still, she felt goosebumps rise over her skin as the other woman moved her hand over Kushina's stomach, mumbling to herself before nodding.

"How much chakra do you think you have?" Tsunade simply said. Kushina blinked, that was a question she was not expecting, but she thought about it. "I could probably run up a mountainside with chakra alone for eight or so hours before tiring, so I guess a good deal, though nowhere close to Minato, he is the powerhouse."

Tsunade nodded. "A good analogy. I would say Naruto could run for three to four hours, and he's only three." Tsunade sighed seeing Kushina's wide eyes, "Let me put it another way. I looked in to your son to see just why he healed so fast. If I had to guess, I would say that your bloodline and Minato's own stamina changed a bit in him. He was healing himself with his own Chakra, and judging by how well it was working, when he gets older, he may be damn near unstoppable. Besides, a blood limit like that takes a lot of Chakra, and does not turn on or off but merely continues to strengthen his body over time, add that to the fact his father is known for his huge Chakra reserves, and you have a force of nature on your hands."

Tsunade had left her alone after that, telling her to stay out of the tents where her husband and son were being worked on. Though Naruto appeared perfectly healed, they wanted to keep an eye on him a little longer, and as for Minato, she couldn't help worrying about whatever it was that kept someone hailed as the best medic ninja from curing him outright.

She was about to start another pass around the campsite when she felt a hand grab on to her pant leg, and looked down to see a teary-eyed Hinata, with Shikamaru standing right behind her. Both looked frightened and lost, unsure of what was going on as to what had happened and why everyone was still running around. Putting a smile on to her face, she placed a hand on both of their heads and led them over to the trunk of a tree, and sat down in its roots, holding each child to her.

After awhile Shikamaru looked up at her. "How bad is it, Kushina?" Kushina looked at the quiet little boy, noticing how his eyes seemed quite serious and at odds on such a young face. Sometimes the boy was a little too aware of his surroundings for his own good. Looking at Hinata, who seemed to be near tears at the thought of what she might say, Kushina gave the little girl a smile before turning back to Shikamaru. "Everything is going to be okay. That lady we met is one of the best medics the world has ever seen, and she even has Naruto all patched up all ready." She hoped the little misdirection would satisfy the two, and was glad to see Hinata relax a bit and give her a shy smile, whereas Shikamaru just made a small disgruntled noise and didn't push the topic any further.

Another hour or so passed, Kushina telling little stories and consoling the two before Tsunade Shizune finally came out, looking exhausted from working for nearly a whole day. Tsunade motioned for Kushina to come over, and giving the two children a final hug each, she got up to speak to the medic as Shizune took her place, introducing herself to the children.

"Minato is awake, though still rather weak. I already had a long talk with him, and I'm sorry to say it wasn't all good, but he wants to talk to you before he takes a rest."

Kushina nodded and pushed past the flap and entered the large tent they had erected. Inside Naruto was resting peacefully on one side and Minato was propped up on one elbow watching him, his chest wrapped in a large white bandage.

Kushina stood there watching both of them before Minato moved to lie down and stare at the ceiling. "Tsunade told me about Naruto. You suppose our bloodlines mixed together to make it?"

Kushina walked over to his cot and pulled the blanket over him before smirking at him. "I guess your stamina had to be good for something other than listening to suggestions from that Sensei of yours." Minato blushed then broke out in laughter before wincing slightly and starting to cough. Unsure what to do, Kushina waited until he composed himself and turned to smile at her. "Women. You're going to be the death of me, you know that?"

Kushina smiled sweetly at him. "Of course, it's what we do. Besides, even the biggest, baddest ninja know not to mess with their wives." Kushina sat down on the floor next to his cot and linked her hand in his. "So, now that you don't look like someone kicked your favorite puppy, what's wrong?"

Minato squeezed her hand and then fingered his bandage. "I let myself get blinded in the fight. I just wanted to get back to you and Naruto so much when I thought I had defeated him I didn't think to make sure he really was dead."

Kushina didn't say anything. Of course it had been a foolish thing to do, but to someone like Minato who tried to care for everyone, worrying more about the health of his son than the battle didn't surprise her.

"When he stabbed me with the Grass Cutter, I knew everything had changed. After getting here and having Tsunade heal me, I could still feel where he cut me." Minato sighed, "Tsunade told me just how bad it was. I don't think I'll ever be able to fight for long anymore, the damage is just too severe. She barely stopped whatever it was the sword was doing to me, but she couldn't fix what it had done to my lungs, had she gotten to me sooner..." Minato faded off and just continued to stare and the ceiling, his thumb running circles over the back of her hand.

Kushina didn't let her emotions reach her face. She felt sorry for Minato, knowing how important it was to him to use his skills to protect everybody. She also felt a small amount of pity, but she knew that wouldn't be received well. Overwhelmingly though, she felt anger at Orochimaru.

He had hurt her family and practically enslaved everyone in Konoha, and given time, she didn't doubt he would move on to other villages. She and her family would find no rest while he was alive. The vindictive man would hunt them down and not rest until everyone connected to them had died.

Looking over at Naruto, she saw him smile in whatever childish dream he was having and she felt her resolve harden a bit looking at him. "Minato. You know how much I care for our children, so just listen to what I have to say before you agree or not."

Minato turned to face her, but she kept her eyes on Naruto. "Our children, all three of them, are the future of Konoha. They deserved to grow up in the town where they were born, get to know their true families, have fun, get in to trouble at the Academy, but Orochimaru stole that from them. We tried to give that back to them, yet we couldn't. I don't want to put them in to danger, but it's their right to choose what they want to do. I say we train them, and if they choose to, give them all the skills needed to take back Konoha and give the next generation after them the things they lost."

Kushina turned to face him, "Tsunade said it herself. Naruto's healing abilities may become the strongest bloodline a ninja could hope to have, and from the sound of it, because of it his stamina will be amazing as he gets older. He might be able to stand toe to toe with Orochimaru, and with all of our skills, hopefully come out the victor. And with Hinata and Shikamaru at his side, with their own bloodlines and training, he will have friends capable of protecting him."

She smiled at the man who convinced her to leave her village. She knew he was a powerful ninja, whether he could fight or not. She could already tell he would agree, and with his knowledge of the ninja arts, their children would have the best tutors in the world.

Finally, Minato nodded, getting the formality of agreeing out of the way. "You're right. And besides, there is something Tsunade told me about Orochimaru that might make it all the more possible than you can imagine. You know how it takes awhile for chakra coils to grow..."

X X X

Rather short, but to be honest, I wrote and rewrote this chapter. I just couldn't get it to sound and flow like I wanted. Instead of just never progressing, I decided to give it a quick clean up and just post it. I hope you all aren't disgusted by it as much as I am. I fully intend to come back to it later to improve upon it.

But that concludes the first Arc of sorts to the series. I was tempted to say what is up with Orochimaru, but decided it's more fun to make everyone wait. :) From here on, we will be dealing much more with Naruto, Hinata, and Shikamaru. But since I love writing Kushina, a bad ass loving mother who also has a bit of a mischievous side, I think they will definitely be hanging around for awhile and we will see the world from the adults eyes a few more times.

Thank you all for reading, and I look forward to more reviews. And even if you didn't like it, please say why, if its a matter of writing style, I really want to know. Just be polite please. :)

Also, check out my profile page. Some things that give me inspiration for this story (in other words, hints of the future) will be posted in the very near future. I find looking at other people's artistic inspiration helps me write. For those of you who are fellow Naru/Hina fans, yes it is coming, but for now enjoy pictures of our favorite couple.

Until next time, and for those who might be curious and waited for this chapter, a preview will be in the form of a hint. Think Dry, Warm or Cold, and Homicidal Maniacs.


	5. Training and Assassinations

So, I sort of felt like writing before bed, and an hour or so later, I got this. I am actually pretty pleased with it for a quickie. But I am tired, so if I missed anything in my quick proof read, feel free to point it out. As always, more details below. For now, let's just get to the story.

All Rights to the People Who Deserve them.

Rekindle: Training and Assassinations

"Keep your hands up, Naruto!" Even as she yelled at him, his mom came at him with vengeance, testing how well he could guard himself when she was tried to land a so called killing blow on his head. He liked to call those sparring sessions head hunting matches. Whenever he let his temper get the best of him and got reckless in their spars, she always had one of these sessions to drill the basics back in to him.

And he always had the bruises afterwards to realize just how much he needed to work on defense.

"Remember, most ninjas rely on their reflexes to get their guard up in time. If you're smart, you will keep it up the entire time, and then it's just that much easier to survive a fatal blow." Kushina recited the rules to fighting smart as she put it for what seemed like the upteenth time that session. "But mom, it's so much more annoying trying to use my ninja tools like this."

He had just enough time to use his elbow to block the blow to the side of his head, and slid a few feet to the side, even as his brains rattled a bit at the strength of the blow, and the worst part was he knew she had been holding back. She shot him a dangerously sweet smile, "And would you have been able to block that if your hands were down at your waist darling?" Naruto grumbled and she laughed, "You'll have time for things like that when you put room between your enemy, and only after you know if he is fast enough to stop whatever it is you're planning."

Naruto nodded and adjusted his stance, tucking his elbows in and gripping his practice trench knives a bit tighter. His mother had begun to teach him the basics of how to use them, and for now he was using a training set to get used to them and to help guard against blows that might have been from an opponent wielding a blade.

He knew his mom was right, but he just couldn't help the urge sometime to try and show off and end the fight quickly. He liked to think of how being a whole 8 years old now and being trained by some of the best the world had to offer, he could probably take on just about anyone.

Then again, he just liked to think that. His parents often reminded him that there were plenty of strong ninjas out there who could easily beat him. He hadn't wanted to listen to them until one night they had Old Man Jiraiya enter the camp dressed as a bandit when it had just been Hinata, Shikamaru, and him. In less than a minute, using not a single ninja technique or anything particularly fancy, he had incapacitated all three of them. Even though he knew Jiraiya was really tough, it was a bit scary to think that him and his friends could have been beaten so easily with just one opponent who was clever and experienced enough to do it.

Shaking the thought out of his head, he focused on trying to get out of today's spar with fewer bruises than usual. After close to another half an hour of being beaten around he saw his mom start to slow down, though not out of being tired, but as a way to signal the ending of the spar. Finally she raised a hand up and smiled at him, "Enough of that. If I rattle your skull too much more I won't leave much left for your father to work on with ninjutsu." Naruto pouted than stamped his food, "Well one of these days I'm gonna be the one to knock you around mom!" His mom rose an eyebrow and he flinched, "I didn't mean it like that. Just that I won't be beaten by anybody someday!"

Kushina laughed and ruffled his hair, "I know what you meant. But you should know there will always be someone out there who can beat you, just depends in what." Naruto grinned, "Well that just means I have to make sure there aren't many areas I can be beaten in!"

Kushina smiled at him, and he couldn't help but feel proud at that. Walking back in to the camp he saw Shikamaru sitting by Auntie Tsunade and Shizune, reviewing some sort of scroll with the two. Naruto knew he wasn't smart, and hated lessons in chakra control and history and medicine with Auntie. It was hard and he couldn't seem to wrap his mind around all the concepts. He liked learning how to fight a lot more than reading a silly scroll. Shikamaru though soaked the stuff up, even if he grumbled a lot. Personally, he didn't see why the boy kept at it if he always complained about it, yet he said he liked the challenge of learning something hard, or the questions on how to make a good battle plan and things like that.

In Naruto's opinion, Shikamaru was just weird like that. Still cool, but weird.

In a clearing on the other side of the camp he could see his dad leading Hinata through some kind of stretches, one or the other occasionally adding a strike and at the same time talking with one another. He could see her struggling to keep up, but she seemed to be smiling, and talking pretty animatedly with his dad. When he had asked before, his mom had explained what Hinata's bloodline could do, and the importance to be flexible. He also had her keep her Byakugan thingy on the entire time, and made her keep a constant watch for a clone he would sometimes have sneak up on their training.

The rest he had been told was mostly guesswork, letting her find her own style. His dad always went on how it was best to just work off of what came naturally to you as a fighting style than learning a brand new style of fighting. The only improvement to their fighting styles he made was suggesting things that might improve what their bodies naturally wanted to do, telling them when it might work better, or how to improve it without changing it entirely.

His dad was also kind of weird like that, but he couldn't help but be proud to be his son.

His parents had been open and straightforward about what had happened when they were young, and despite running away from the village and being injured, he couldn't help but see his dad as an amazing ninja no matter what.

His mom walked over to Tsunade, and waited for the woman to finish something she was talking about that had to do with how to direct an enemy where you wanted them to go. While she had Auntie distracted he sat down by Shikamaru. "Hey Shika."

The dark haired boy leaned back and laid out on the ground, staring up at the sky, taking his time before replying, "Yo." He looked over and snorted in a kind of laugh, "Kushina get to you again?"

Naruto grinned and scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah. Really need to remember to keep my hands up. Just give me a few minutes though and the bruises will be gone. You should have seen the scratches at first. Sometimes I wonder if a mom really should be hitting her kids quite like that. Also, just call her mom, okay?"

Shikamaru snorted again, "Someone has to keep you in line, and you don't remember anything until it's beat in to you. As for the mother thing, it's too troublesome to deal with what to call them."

Naruto grinned and stood up when his mother turned back to take him to work with his dad. Before he went though he grinned down at the other boy, "Yeah, but it's her turn to work with you soon as well. We'll see how well you remember to block mom's attacks today also." The other boy paled a bit but didn't move from his spot, and Naruto laughed at his reaction before going with his mom to train with his dad.

Even though he was behind her, he waved at Hinata, and pretended to not notice her stumble a bit. He didn't know why she always got so odd whenever he walked in on their training, he thought it was pretty cool what she could do with those eyes of hers, and told her often, hoping she would let him watch it more if he did. "Hey Dad! Hi Hinata!" He grinned at the both of them as they stopped their exercised and walked over.

His mother walked over and kissed his dad, and Naruto made a fake face of disgust that only Hinata could see, who giggled at his antics. He grinned again at her, "How goes the training Hinata?"

Hinata poked her fingers together, "It's..going well. Minato says I'm almost ready to try to use the gentle fist style. We were trying to figure out how to train in it since he is obviously not trained in it's uses."

"That sounds great. But Hinata.." He tried to look serious as she gave him a confused look at him. "Call him Dad. We're all like family, so don't take them being straightforward about things so seriously." Now he grinned at her and she looked down at the ground, mumbling something that sounded like sister, but he couldn't hear her, and just shrugged it off as Minato turned to face them. He knelt by Hinata and placed a hand on her head, "You did really well today too Hinata. You're going to grow up to be an amazing Kunoichi at this rate, just make sure to not focus too much anywhere at once, the best part of your bloodline is how hard it is to attack in a blind spot of yours."

She nodded, and lowering his voice so only Naruto and she could hear he went on, "And Naruto is right. We don't want to lie to you or Shikamaru, but I will always think of you like my own Daughter." He grinned at her, and she looked up, grinning brightly back at him before nodding and running over to mother, who had gone back to saying a few last things to dad and then walked off with her.

Once the girls had walked away, his dad turned to him and gave him a big grin. "So, ready for a spar?" Naruto nodded, excited at the thought of fighting his dad. He technically wasn't supposed to be doing any Taijutsu, but had told Naruto if he took it easy it would be fine, and it had been their secret from everyone else.

Walking further in the forest to get out of sight of Tsunade, they found a clearing in the woods to work in. All Naruto knew was that they were hidden somewhere in Grass country, a place they often used as a hiding place over the years. His parents had said the landscape was pretty similar to Fire country, and the hidden village was pretty lax in combing the entire country for potential spies. He supposed that they had a thing for trees back in Konoha or something.

Deeming them far enough away, his dad stopped them and turned to face him. "From the sound of what your mother had to say, you got enough of a beating for one day it seems, so I was thinking we could start a technique that I just know you're going to love, and it will have the added bonus of helping you with some of that ninjutsu we've been working on lately."

Naruto frowned, "But I thought you said we could spar Dad. This sounds just like another lesson on techniques." His dad laughed at the look on his face. "We'll be practicing as we spar. Besides, would you turn down the first step to learning the Hiraishin Jutsu? Because, if you really don't want to, I could just go work with Shikamaru, I'm sure he would find it a good Jutsu to know, unlike some of my children I could think of."

Naruto jumped up at the sound of that. His Dad was finally willing to teach him the Hiraishin? He didn't care if you had to go through a hundred of Tsunade's boring lessons on chakra control, he had seen that Jutsu before and he couldn't wait to learn it. "Yes Yes Yes! Teach me it! I know I can master it!" He was practically bouncing in his excitement, and had to wait for his Dad to stop laughing so hard before he continued.

"Well, I know what you're going to think, but the trick is in Chakra control."

Naruto hung his head. That was his worst skill as a ninja. Techniques that required either a lot of chakra, or no control he could do, but Granny always yelled at him for wielding his chakra like an ogre with a club.

Minato saw this and put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't be like that. Truth be told, your control is a bit better than mine at your age from all the practice we make you do. If you told me right now to control chakra the way you've been taught up until now, I probably wouldn't be able to form a single bunshin if my life depending on it. That's why I was talking to your mother before. You're having the same problem as me, and we figured it was time to teach you the way I do it. You probably will never be anywhere as good as Tsunade or Shizune, possibly even Hinata, who has excellent control even given her blood limit, but you will have enough to do a lot more than you can right now."

Naruto took a moment before nodding. He didn't like to think that he couldn't get as good with control as the others, but if his dad were the same way, and so strong, whatever he had to teach must be good as well.

His father grinned at him, "That's the spirit. Now the rules of the spar are easy. I will count down from ten and you have to perform a Kawarimi to avoid getting hit. I know you've gotten good with that jutsu lately, so we'll work on that one since it's so useful. The difference will be in how you gather your chakra."

Placing his hands in a cross like seal, he summoned a Shadow Clone and had it walk around for a moment before disappearing. "Now, according to what we've been teaching you, how should I have build up chakra for that technique."

Even Naruto knew the answer to that, "Build up the exact amount you need behind the seal then release it."

His Dad grinned at him. "Right. Now, if you wanted to do that, but you knew your control was bad, how might you go about ensuring you get a clone?"

Naruto took a moment to think about it. "I guess I would just throw a lot of Chakra in and hope for the best?" He shrugged, it was too much of a pain usually to try and find a way to perfectly build up to a certain amount of chakra.

His dad waggled a finger, "And if you desperately needed only one clone and got 3 or 4? No, wishing for the best is a bad idea, but your overall idea isn't bad. What I find helps is instead of building to a certain amount, it's much easier to do as you say, pour in an amount more than is needed, then I pull chakra out of the jutsu until it is much closer to the proper amount. It can take longer at first, but when you get good at it, you won't notice a difference, and eventually you can get good enough at a technique to always get the amount just about right on the first try. So, let's start working on that Kawarimi, I want you to try what I just said, and we'll slowly work on getting you faster."

Naruto nodded, and started as soon as his father began to count.

X X X

Naruto was eating his fourth bowl of stew as he listened to Kakashi talk about some joke a his old teammate Obito had pulled at one point. Evidently, this joke had resulted in Kakashi's silver hair being a bright pink color for days, and from the sound of it, he hadn't been pleased at the time, even if now he was laughing about it.

Hinata giggled at the thought next to him, and he could see Shikamaru hiding a smirk to his other side. His parents and Tsunade and Shizune were on the other side of the camp, discussing something that only they knew, though judging by the laughing that floated over on occasion, he didn't think it was related to training.

Old Man Jiraiya had left a few weeks ago on some important errand, and was scheduled to be back any day. They had already stayed here for a longer time than they usually would, but he had been told Jiraiya had some kind of spy network he had to travel to keep operational on occasion, and the other adults were hesitant to send messages even by summons for fear of it being intercepted.

Naruto grinned at Kakashi. "Don't be surprised then if some creature in the woods gets the idea to add exploding paint pellets to the books you hide in your tent." Kakashi's eye curved up, a sign he was grinning. "It would be a shame if in my confusion I put itching powder in that poor animals den as well." The three children laughed at the thought. Kakashi was a lot older than they were, but he was sort of the big brother of the group. Instead of having things get boring, it wasn't uncommon to be under siege from Kakashi trying to liven things up, while feigning ignorance all the while. He showed no mercy and all three children had been on the receiving end of his little bits of amusement, though the three often gave as good as they got, and had found ways to get even.

Surprisingly it had been Hinata who had the best luck getting Kakashi in to trouble, no one expecting the quiet girl to be capable of pulling off a prank quite so convincingly. After a particularly ingenious trick involving stink bombs on the part of Kakashi, Hinata had walked right up to Kushina and had asked if she could get a copy of the little orange book Kakashi was always reading. She had said that Kakashi wouldn't let her read it, even though he always had it out when he was watching the three of them, and she was curious what it was that made him grin so much.

The resulting chase had been one of the funniest things Naruto had ever seen, and he had bowed to Hinata in respect for her evil joke. She had blushed, but grinned at the gesture, they all knew Kakashi was a pervert and that those books were something only adults read, and to see Kushina tear in to him for having them around children was priceless.

The four joked around for awhile longer when they heard a rustling outside the camp, and a sound like a large toad made. The adults, who had jumped up with weapons in hand at the sound, relaxed at the croaking noise. A moment later Jiraiya appeared on the back of a toad, and got off of it before the toad disappeared in a puff of smoke. "Did you all miss me?"

Naruto could see the twitch appear in Tsunade's eye instantly. "Don't flatter yourself idiot. You're a week late, we were beginning to get worried about your sorry behind."

Jiraiya pouted, "You're still no fun Tsunade-hime. A long time on the road and not even a single offer for a welcome home peck on the cheek. I am beginning to feel so unloved here." He jumped back just in time to dodge the punch launched by Tsunade, putting his hands up in defense. "I'm just joking! Before you knock me out, let me explain! Something important has come up."

Tsunade backed down and she eyed him, "How important? This better not just be a way to get out of trouble for doing something stupid like spying on girls somewhere."

Jiraiya sighed. "Believe me, I wish it were over something like that. I would take beautiful girls over assassinations any day, trust me."

Naruto's ear's perked up at that, and he looked at the other two. Shikamaru looked about the same as before, but he knew the slightly straighter posture of the boy meant he was paying attention to every word being said. Hinata had turned pale, but she nodded slightly when he looked at her, and they scooted closer to the tents to move in to the shadows, trying to keep the adults from thinking to send them away. Naruto noticed his dad look at them, but after a brief moment when they just stared at each other, he placed himself in the direct line of sight of the other adults, especially his mother, but otherwise didn't say anything.

Jiraiya rubbed his temples, and for once looked his age. "I was gone so long because my informant from Konoha was having trouble confirming his information. He eventually made sure without a doubt of it's accuracy, but that only makes things worse."

Tsunade walked over to stand next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder before he continued. "You know from the reports my spies in Suna and Konoha have given me, as well as rumors, that the two villages are working on creating an alliance. If they do, that is two of the most powerful villages essentially under the control of Orochimaru. What we didn't know what just how much he would be in control. The Kazekage is planning on visiting Konoha, and he won't be leaving alive."

At this the adults started talking all at once with the exception of his dad, who waited a moment before coughing loudly, returning the silence so Jiraiya could go on. Nodding to his student he went on. "We know for a fact that Orochimaru plans to put a puppet ruler back in Suna, and he will slowly assimilate the village in to his own forces. As far as I can see it, there is only one thing we can do at this point."

His dad nodded, "You want to let Suna know, don't you?" Jiraiya nodded. "They already seem quite displeased with their current Kage, and his policies and the rumors of demon host he created without the proper seals. They won't worry that the man is dead, but they will not take to being ruled by Orochimaru's puppet. If we can get in and meet my spy, and have a meeting with their council without the Konoha ambassador and Konoha spies getting any information out, we could stop the village from being taken over. Suna is the second strongest village after Konoha since the end of the wars, and naturally protected by it's surrounding valleys and cliffs. Even Orochimaru couldn't hope to take Suna at the moment with only Konoha's forces if they were to put up a fight."

The others nodded, but his mom stepped forward and glared at the older man. "I am not dumb Jiraiya. I know what it takes to maintain silence from possibly an entire town of spies. It's a full time job, and we have the children to take care of, and even then we cannot guarantee it will work. What do you have in mind for them?"

Jiraiya swallowed deeply, scared to answer, knowing he had been trapped by the one person he hadn't want to broach the subject with before discussing it with Minato and the others. "They come with me in to the city, leaving you and the others capable of intercepting any outgoing messages."

Naruto could have heard a pin drop a mile away after he said that, then the yelling started, most of it coming from his mom. It took Tsunade and his Dad to eventually restrain her from killing the Toad Sannin and to place a hand over her mouth so her shouts wouldn't alert anyone to their presence.

Seeing his chance, Naruto jumped over and ran to the group. "Hey! Don't we get a say in this? I think Old Man's idea is good. We can help that village by doing it, right? It's a good plan!"

Shikamaru came up behind him. "Actually, it does have a flaw I think mother saw." His word choice calmed his mom immediately, and he gave a nearly imperceptible nod to Naruto, showing he knew the reaction it would have. Score another point for being a genius he supposed.

"There will be enemy ninja there. Enemy ninja who are good enough to be in an entire village of potentially hostile ninjas. They will be good, and if they want to get at Jiraiya, all they have to do is attack us, thee 8 year old children."

His mom nodded at that. "I will not have you go in to danger simply because this idiot here wants to make sure we can completely keep the town quiet and unable to contact Konoha for a few days."

Naruto wasn't ready to give up, but couldn't think of anything to say and turned to Hinata, hoping to find some support. He was disappointed to see she was looking in another direction, purposefully avoiding giving her opinion, which was enough to tell him what she thought.

Jiraiya seemed to be the only one who Naruto could count on for him being allowed to go. The old man was sharing a look with his dad before turning back to him mom. "Kushina. I understand your concern. I thought a long time about this on the way back, but we cannot let Orochimaru take Suna, and we cannot let ourself be caught there. I have to go in to make contact with their council and my spy, what else would you have me do?"

His mom glared at him, "I don't know, but not this. I will not have you endanger my children."

At that his Dad cleared his throat. "You know, both of you are wrong." At this the two turned to look at him, neither glaring or seeming to be angry, but Naruto could still feel a pressure building between the adults that scared him a bit. He could almost feel their chakra building as they started to get emotionally involved.

"Sensei. You're wrong for wanting to be the only one there for the children. You know they will not miss the chance to strike out at you through them. But Kushina," at this he turned to her "you're wrong for trying to keep them from this. They're young, but they never had the chance to really be young to begin with, if they want to go, it is their decision. They would be genin by now normally, and we both know that would mean they are considered adults. They have to start learning the dangers of the world they are in eventually, we can't coddle them forever. It only makes them weaker and less capable of surviving in the long run."

Now he turned to face the children, kneeling and grinning. "What would you three say to being able to finally see one of those Hidden Villages we always talk about. You three have mastered the basics of being ninja, and though there is still a lot left to learn, you would be old enough to make your own choices about this back in Konoha if you were Genin. In case you're scared, I will have your mother go with you."

At this he smiled up at Mom, "I will make sure no one know you all are there. I may not be able to fight well anymore, but I can still make clones and use various jutsu's. I can cover a lot of ground and close down almost any means of message courier. So why not all five of you go. It's more dangerous in that they will want to attack you more if discovered, but if you use a Genjutsu Kushina, it should be all right to stay by their side someplace relatively guarded in order to protect them should the need arise."

She frowned slightly at Dad, and he turned back to face them. "So, are you three willing to do this?" Turning around, he saw Shikamaru shrug, and Hinata's shy smile before she nodded. Turning back to his dad, he nodded his head. "We promise to do our best to help, Dad."

Minato smiled at him. "I know, and that's why I'm sure you'll end up doing amazing things someday, all of you."

X X X

Hopefully everyone enjoyed the chapter. I was thinking of writing more and posting a large chapter with more of the Suna arc to it. But I figured this was a good place to stop.

As for thoughts on the chapter, I liked writing as Naruto. I never thought of him as dumb, just not well educated and the type who did not particularly care for thinking too hard. Now he is being taught properly, but he still does not care for thinking. Hopefully he didn't come off as sound too old. I suspect his life would cause many people to become a bit mature a bit sooner, but I tried to add a bit of silliness to his character.

I already have plans for the next chapter, so here is to hoping for a chapter soon. Depends on how it comes out. I never write these things out, and just write it off the cuff of my sleeve, so I may encounter Writers Block randomly.

Any questions, comments, recommendations, use that reply option. I like knowing what you all think. Now it is time for me to get some rest. Sleep well everyone and have a great day.


	6. In Plain Sight

Another Chapter. I got unexpectedly busy today, so I didn't finish as much as I wanted, but it gives me a chance to plan things out a bit more from here. So I hope you enjoy this short chapter.

All Rights to Those Who Earned them First.

Rekindle: In Plain Sight

They were camped out in the edge of the woods marking the border between Grass Country and Wind Country. Naruto was told the reason for camping so far out was the likelihood of being spotted by Suna Ninjas, who tended to be quite careful about keeping an eye open for intruders. Starting tomorrow, they would be on their first real mission, and he was excited. Even if if they were only going because the others needed the freedom of movement that they couldn't have with children around, it made him feel important.

"Come on Auntie, you know that trying to cram in all this stuff right before we leave won't do any good. Teach me something interesting, please?" He gave Tsunade a puppy dog face, hoping to win her over like he used to when he was younger. All it earned him now was a knot on the top of his skull. 

"I told you, this is a review you brat. I shouldn't be cramming in anything you don't all ready know. Just because you're going on a mission doesn't get you out of your lessons." Naruto pouted but went back to looking at the scroll. Taking a moment to think, he scribbled something down and showed it to Tsunade, who looked at it before rubbing her eyes. 

"It's not wrong, but it's not the best way to do it. If you pour too much Chakra in to the broken bone like that, you stand a chance of shattering the bone. Your own blood limit probably would prevent that from happening, but what happens if you need to use this on someone like Hinata?"

Naruto grimaced, and went back to studying the scroll, trying to remember all the different ways to heal broken bones Tsunade had taught him, and which would be best here. He hated these lessons, but put up with it because the thought of either Hinata and Shikamaru being hurt and unable to heal themselves was a lot worse than having to focus on some dusty old scroll. 

At least they won't have to worry too much about with me, he thought. His blood limit kept getting stronger, and after having something healed once either naturally or by a medic, it seemed to only make the process quicker as his body figured out the trick to healing it. He still had to watch out for one hit kills and some nastier internal damage, but he had progressed that in a few hours he could heal from some pretty nasty wounds.

An hour or so later, Tsunade waved him off, giving him a barely passing assessment for the day, and not wanting to have her drag him back over to do better, he ran over to plop down next to Hinata, who was watching Kakashi and Shikamaru play Go.

Leaning over to whisper in Hinata's ear, he pointed to Tsunade. "Is the crazy old lady so mean to you too? I swear, her lessons are gonna be the death of me." Hinata laughed a bit, "I happen to enjoy her lessons Naruto. It's nice to know I am learning how to help you and Shikamaru and everyone feel better."

Naruto scrunched his face up, "Yeah, but you're just weird like that." Hinata hung her head at that, and Naruto went on. "But then again, I am just weird for liking fighting so much." He grinned at her and got her to smile slightly, "Besides, you're really good at it. Even Auntie says your control is to be envied, you'll probably be better than her someday! And with your bloodline, you are gonna be a total bad ass kunoichi." Hinata blushed a bit, her gaze going back to the ground.

Shikamaru took a moment away from his board, "Cut the flattery Naruto, making some of us sick over here." Naruto stuck his tongue out at the other boy then turned his attention to their game. Looking up at Shikamaru, he pointed to the board. "So...who's winning?" Shikamaru sighed and muttered something before looking back at the board. "You totally miss the point of the game, don't you? Neither of us are winning, yet."

Naruto shrugged and leaned back against a nearby tree, talking with Hinata about what she was expecting to see in Suna. The adults on occasion went to towns under transformations, but the three of them had never been in anything bigger than a small outpost town before, and never longer than a few hours.

He supposed some people might find the kind of life they lived boring, but he had good friends, and his parents tried really hard to make sure the kids didn't feel left out in the presence of all the adults. But now that he was faced with the chance to actually go to one of the biggest cities on the continent, he couldn't help but get a bit excited.

After a few minutes where Hinata explained the different type of clothing worn in the desert again, he saw Shikamaru grin and place one of his pieces, calmly announcing his win. Kakashi gave a mock bow, and they started to clean up the board before turning to give what might have been a pout in Naruto's direction.

Naruto laughed at his antics. "You're losing your touch Kakashi, he's winning more." Shikamaru snorted, "Only occasionally. Even after years of playing he comes up with tactics I never saw coming."

Naruto smirked at him, "Yeah, but Kakashi is smart. You're just a lazy bum." Shikamaru raised an eyebrow up at him before lying down by where he and Hinata were sitting, staring up at the sky. "And you're an idiot. I think it balances out that way." Naruto grinned at him, and they went back to their talk of the upcoming day, even getting Shikamaru involved in the discussion, talking about what he was looking forward to seeing there.

Naruto grinned, he enjoyed moments like these, glad he had his friends with him.

X X X

Shikamaru tugged at the collar of his shirt, trying to let more air in to cool him down. Hinata and Kushina were dressed in loose airy clothing well suited to the desert heat, but he had thought it too much trouble to put his own on that morning, and only a few hours in he was already miserable.

What was worse was Naruto and Jiraiya didn't even seem to notice the heat, and both were dressed as they normally were. They were sitting on the top of their toads, talking and joking around like the sun wasn't deliberately trying to cook them alive.

He laid down on the head of the toad he was on, not wanting to waste energy on actually sitting up. The toads were making good time, and hid the fact that those accompanying Jiraiya, including Kushina who was under a Genjutsu, were ninjas capable of high speed travel. In his opinion, the fact he could just relax on the trip there was the much more important fact there.

After a few more hours of travel, the beginnings of a town on the horizon started to make itself clear. Only when they got closer did Shikamaru realize just how big the place was. Logically he knew that a place like Suna would be much larger than what he was used to, but actually seeing it was rather awe inspiring.

The toads came to a halt and Jiraiya got off his, and Shikamaru and the others followed suit, thanking the toads before they disappeared. Jiraiya turned to face the group. "Now, as much as I don't like the idea of just waltzing in there without a disguise, I need to convince the council of my identity, so we can't help the fact. You three though," at this he turned to face Shikamaru and the others, "need to be careful. I know you're not exactly normal, but do try to act that way. Look amazed at the city, act like three excited children, but don't show off that you know any ninja arts. Kushina will be there to protect you, but she has her own cover to keep, and in a village of ninjas, it can be hard to hide under Genjutsu too long unless you're careful."

All three of them nodded, and he gave them a big grin. "Also, make sure to enjoy yourselves a bit. I know this is your first time, so take it all in, just don't forget what we said. I'm sure someone from Konoha will spot me, but I am a honored guest here in Suna, so that should give us some protection for what we need to do."

Shikamaru sighed, it was going to be really troublesome staying undercover in a village of ninjas. He knew he and Hinata could play the part of two normal children well enough, ignoring Hinata's eyes, but Naruto was bound to blow up at some point. He was pretty strong for his age, but in a town of enemies, one mistake was all that was needed to ruin their cover.

He looked at the grinning and bouncing blond boy before sharing a look with Hinata, who gave him a weak smile before they started to walk the final bit of the trip, not wanting to alert the guards at the gate.

After reaching the gate, and a tense moment where Jiraiya gave some excuse for why he was there, they were greeted by a group of Anbu and began to walk up to what seemed to be the central building in the village.

Despite his attempts at looking uninterested, he couldn't help but feel a bit excited by all the new sights and sounds around him. He could smell exotic spices on the air, and saw civilians milling about as ninjas jumped from roof top to roof top. He felt slightly claustrophobic with so many people around him, and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, getting control of himself.

Hinata also seemed to be feeling slightly overwhelmed with the city, holding on to Kushina's hand a bit tighter, but Naruto was having no problem looking like the excited kid he was, twisting and turning to try and see everything at once.

Reaching the front gate of the main building, they were detained for a few more minutes as Jiraiya explained his reasons for being there again. Shikamaru heard something along the lines of checking on the health of a ninja he helped during the last ninja war. Ignoring that for now, he tried to get a feel for where they were going. The entire perimeter was fenced in, and heavily guarded, so his guess about it's importance was probably right, but it meant if they had to flee it would be near impossible to escape. 

"Out of the frying pan.." He muttered and Naruto turned to face him. "What was that Shika?" The boy shrugged, "Nothing. Just try and be polite, all these ninjas make me nervous." Naruto looked ready to say something, but seemed to catch the hint at the last second, and nodded, surprisingly acting the part of a slightly cowed child well.

From the main entrance way walked a large broad shouldered man, flanked by three children, a boy and girl slightly older than himself, and another red haired boy who appeared to be the same age. He caught the girl staring at him, and when he looked back at her she turned her gaze elsewhere, acting like she hadn't been looking. Shikamaru just raised an eyebrow at the odd behavior, but ignored it and payed attention to the adult who was now greeting Jiraiya.

The man smiled and shook Jiraiya's own. "Jiraiya! It's good to have you come back after so long. We had heard you had fallen out of favor with Konoha, but they never did tell us what happened, and we've been wondering if you would ever show your face again. Yet here you are you old devil." The man turned to face everyone else, nodding to Kushina and kneeling before the kids, looking up at Jiraiya. "And what do we have here? Don't tell me these three are your's Jiraiya."

Naruto and Hinata just looked on in horror as Shikamaru smirked. It seemed the old man's perverted nature was well known even to foreign countries. 

Jiraiya waved his hands. "No no no. Just three orphans from Konoha I took with me before I left, and this lovely lady right here is also from Konoha, and agreed to take care of them until they find a good place to settle down." 

The man raised an eyebrow "That's been 8 years now Jiraiya, surely you must have found some place they could stay." Jiraiya sighed, "Sadly, it appears the grudge between me and the new Hokage runs a bit deep, no one wants to take them on, so we've been traveling for a long time now, and I sort of see them as my family by now. I figured I would visit an old friend here in Suna and give them the chance to see what a proper village looks like."

The man nodded, and Shikamaru looked at the Sannin with a bit more respect than before. He knew the man ran an extensive spy network, and had often tried to teach them the finer points of lying. The most important rule was to keep it simple and as close to the truth as possible. He had told the man what he wanted to hear, that they too were outcasts, but subtly dispelled any notion that they were related to political events in their home village.

The man smiled and patted the top of Hinata's head before standing up and offering his hand to Kushina. "Well, my name is Hiroshi, and it is a pleasure to meet you. While you are in Suna, I promise that you will be able to rest easy and enjoy the town to it's fullest." Kushina smiled at him, "Thank you sir. As interesting as Jiraiya can be, it is a nice chance to take advantage of a large village's hospitality and comforts on occasion."

Hiroshi smiled, "I'm sure." He turned back to face Shikamaru and the others, "So, what are all of your names?" After they introduced themselves he grinned. "Well, I hope you three will get along with these children I brought along. Behind me are our current Kazekage's children." Taking a step back, he placed a hand on the two older children's shoulders. "Why don't you introduced yourselves."

The girl gave Shikamaru another look before moving on to glare at Naruto and Hinata, then lifted her nose up to stare at the sky. "My name is Temari, just remember it and leave me alone." 

The boy grinned at them, "Name is Kankuro. I'm currently learning to be a ninja, if any of you know anything about fighting, I would love to spar you. I finally convinced my dad to let me get these things Chakra puppets I want to try out." Judging by the slightly mischievous gleam in his eye when he mentioned the puppet, Shikamaru had the feeling that sparring with the boy and his puppet should be the last thing on his list of things he could do while in Suna. Luckily, Naruto was being good and playing his part and didn't rise to the bait of an invitation to spar.

Shikamaru turned to look at the other boy still standing slightly behind everyone, who still hadn't looked at the group assembled before him. Hiroshi gave a nervous smile to the boy and walked over, but didn't place his hand on his shoulder like he did with the other two. "Why don't you say hello Gaara?" The boy turned a cool glare up at the man, and he could see the man flinch slightly, but managed to keep his smile on, brittle though it may be. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Kushina and Jiraiya exchange a glance, but filed it away as the boy walked over.

The boy nodded to them. "Gaara of the Desert." With that he turned away, and giving Shikamaru full view of a large gourd on his back with runes on it before he walked back in to the shade of the building.

Hiroshi turned and gave them a small bow. "I'm sorry for that, Gaara has a bit of trouble with children his own age." Jiraiya nodded, "It's fine. Now, where are those hot meals and rooms you promised me if I ever came back." He gave Hiroshi a big smile, and the man laughed before leading them in to the building, discussing the evenings entertainment choices.

X X X

Masaru watched as Jiraiya and his company passed his position in the great hall of the Kazekage's court. None of them paid him any mind, but he didn't doubt that the Sannin had noticed his presence. He didn't recognize the others traveling with the man, and though they carried themselves like normal citizens, he would make sure to look in to their identity later.

He knew that Orochimaru-sama would be displeased that he didn't do anything about their being here, but even he knew he couldn't hope to anger the leaders of Suna by striking out. Any assassination attempt would immediately have him as the suspect, and that would make things harder for his master, who would be even angrier at his fouling up his plans.

His masters orders were clear on what to do if any were to spot the S class missing ninjas associated with their previous Hokage. Contact the village and make sure to detain them as long as possible, with order to kill if capable.

Masaru sighed, it wasn't easy being one of Orochimaru's most trusted ninjas. He knew if he alienated Suna at the moment, he would be punished, yet if he let them escape, he would also be punished.

It was then that he saw the other person hiding in the shadows on the other side of the room, the small red haired boy he had learned housed a demon, and which the fool of a Kazekage hadn't properly sealed inside the boy. Grinning to himself, he felt the beginnings of a plan form in his mind as he slipped off to send a message to Konoha.

If he couldn't kill them, then why not have Suna do it for him.

X X X

Jiraiya watched out of the corner of his eye as the Konoha ninja slipped out of the room, and breathed a slight sigh of relief. The man wasn't particularly good at stealth, but had the feeling that he hadn't been trying to particularly mask his presence. 

Putting it out of his mind, he just left it to trust that the others would stop him from putting out any information, and tuned back in to hear Hiroshi speaking of when to expect dinner that evening. Not surprisingly he had been invited to eat with the council and gave Hiroshi a small smile and a non committal answer.

Out of the whole council, the only one he could trust as far as Gamabunta could toss them was Hiroshi, and he again wondered how the man survived in the cutthroat world of politics as well as he did. 

The smile probably hid a mind like a steel trap, and the wits to have the rest of the council wrapped around his little finger.

Seizing on to Hinata yawning, he turned to Hiroshi. "I'm sorry to cut it short Hiroshi, but I think these three guys are tired, and might need to take a nap if they're going to be up for dinner tonight. Would it be okay if we headed to our rooms for now?"

Naruto scowled at him, "I'm not tired old man! I want to see more of the city!" Jiraiya and Hiroshi laughed, and Jiraiya placed his hand on Naruto's head, giving it a slight squeeze to get the boys attention. "You are always hyper. Your friends, though, look beat, so why not give them the chance to sleep so you can all enjoy it later." 

Naruto seemed to get the hint and nodded, and the girl Temari smirked. "Yeah, little children should make sure to get their nap time." She seemed to be directing her teasing at Shikamaru, who just shrugged. "I happen to like naps. A lot better than listening to know it all girls." The girl spluttered, and seemed ready to make a come back when Hiroshi spoke up. "That's a fine idea, I'll just show you to your rooms then we can talk later."

Leading them up to their rooms, they thanked Hiroshi before entering, and on closing the door, Jiraiya took a moment to use a seal before turning to face the children, who were laid out on the beds, not used to the luxury. Smiling at their antics, he shared a look with Kushina, both of them feeling sorry for them, not even knowing how nice a simple bed could be.

Feeling bad for it, he got them to stop their playing around for the moment, surprised to see even Shikamaru had been grinning widely at how nicely he could laze around on a soft mattress. "Okay, I put up a jutsu that will cover our conversation, but I would rather not resort to keeping it up long. So to cut to the point, did you all see that Konoha ninja in the main hall?" He was glad to see all three of them nodded. "Stay away from him. You'll be with Kushina the whole time, but best not to take any chances. Now, I need to make contact with my spy so he can get me to a meeting with the council, but I don't suspect I can see the council until as early as the morning after next. So I want you all to go out tomorrow in to the town. Act like normal children, have some fun, I'll even give Kushina some money to buy you all something nice. I don't want them thinking anything suspicious is going on."

All three nodded again, not seeing the problem with going out to enjoy themselves if it would also help with the mission. "One final thing, stay away from that Gaara child as much as possible."

At this Naruto frowned. "Why? That doesn't sound like a nice thing to do." Jiraiya shook his head. "I have no problem with the boy himself, or any prejudice against what he is, but trust me when I say he is dangerous through no fault of his own. This is an order. I won't tell you why for now, but you are to listen to it, do you understand?"

Naruto nodded and Jiraiya sighed, "Good. Now, I meant what I said about us getting a nap. Old men like me need our beauty sleep. You can take first watch Kushina." He grinned at her just as a pillow connected with his face. Naruto standing on the bed sticking his tongue out, "You've never been beautiful. I say mom gets to rest first."

Seeing the look of triumph Kushina gave him, he turned around to take off the Jutsu. "Little Momma's Boy" He muttered to himself, only to be hit with another pillow. "I heard that!"

Picking up the pillow, he threw it back at Naruto, and from there an all out pillow fight ensued, confusing the Konoha ninja who came by a moment later in hopes of spying on the group. All he could hear from the inside was laughter and odd proclamations from Jiraiya. He just shook his head, "No wonder Orochimaru-sama calls him an idiot."

X X X

I hope you all enjoyed that chapter. Again, I'm sorry it's so short, but I was unavoidably busy today. I know I prefer making large chapters, as I like having more to read at once, but time is against me, and keeping it short ensures I don't stop writing. I promise to try and make the next one longer if I have time and I don't encounter a point that serves as such a perfect chapter ending as this one.

Aiming for the 40,00 word mark next!

Not much to say here, just stay tuned. The events in Suna will play an important part in the story over time. :)

Again, Reviews are always appreciated. It's nice to know people actually enjoy the story and I am not just fooling myself in to believing it is not trash. Also I am still willing to have someone Beta my work. I will make sure to clean it up before hand, but it may help to have another person tell me if anything sounds redundant or is difficult to understand.


	7. All Alone and Nowhere to Hide

Another Chapter for people to enjoy. I didn't make the 40,000 word mark, but this seemed like a good place to end the chapter, and I won't sacrifice quality for a few extra words.

I also realize the story has been missing on real action as to date. Don't worry, there is some here, but next chapter will be all the action you can hope for. I just didn't wish to force fights in where they didn't make sense. There is a short skirmish in this chapter, so I hope it will tide you over.

Well, on to the chapter!

All Rights to those who earned them first.

Rekindle: All Alone and Nowhere to Hide

Naruto couldn't sleep. He would have expected having a nice bed underneath him, and to him what seemed like a feast in his belly, he would be dead to the world, but he couldn't seem to find that elusive state of mind at the moment.

Growling at the pillow, he punched it to try and get it to feel right, and laid his head back down, only to get more annoyed at the feeling. Giving it up as a lost cause, he got out of his bed and on to the balcony, only to trip over something already there. A quick yank to the back of his shirt stopped him from toppling over the edge, and he spun around to see his mother sitting there.

"And here I thought I said it was time to go to sleep for the three of you." She was smiling though, and didn't seem to mind his being there. Naruto shrugged, "Couldn't sleep. The bed isn't as comfortable as I thought it would be."

His mom seemed to accept that excuse and scooted over, giving him room to sit next to her. They sat together in silence for awhile, just watching the Suna's night life go on down below. "So, you seemed pretty excited earlier, looking forward to seeing the town tomorrow?" Naruto frowned slightly, "I guess so. It was pretty impressive when we first entered and all."

"But..." she continued.

"It's different. I guess I'm not used to it is all, and Dad and everyone else aren't here either, it's hard to get used to."

His mom waited a moment before replying, placing an arm over his shoulders, and he was about to protest that he was old enough to not be coddled, but it made him feel a bit better, so he bit back his retort. "Are you worried about Minato and the others out there?"

Naruto shook his head. "No way! He can so kick any Konoha ninjas ass who dares try anything!"

Kushina raised an eyebrow at him at the language, and he ducked his head, "Sorry." She placed a hand on the top of his head and ruffled his hair. "I agree he is pretty bad ass, but don't tell your father, he would never let me live it down." She winked at his scandalized face. "In all seriousness though, your father is very strong, but not invincible, and neither are the others. It's okay to worry about them, just don't let it consume you. It may not be any easier, but at least you won't be trying to deny yourself a natural response."

Naruto nodded, feeling a bit better to hear that it was all right to be worried for everyone. His mother grinned down at him, "See? I bet you feel better all ready. As for the town, if you really want to be impressed, you will have to see Konoha someday. It's a lot bigger, and the people were a lot more friendly before Orochimaru took over."

Naruto didn't say anything, never having been to Konoha he had mixed feelings over the place. He knew the adults were all hoping that he and the others would eventually try and go back there, but aside from disliking the guy who hurt his dad, he usually didn't even think of the village except as something to be avoided at all costs.

His mom went on. "You know, I don't know if Orochimaru got rid of it, but your dad has his face carved in to a mountainside back in Konoha." Naruto gawked, "A whole mountainside has his face on it!" She smiled at him, "Him and all the other Hokage's of Konoha. Konoha was always known as the odd village out. Teamwork and loyalty were the biggest defining traits of a good Konoha ninja. Imagine a whole village who would fight for any villager or fellow shinobi as hard as you would fight to protect Hinata or Shikamaru."

Naruto made a production of thinking for a moment, "They sound pretty tough then." His mom laughed, "Confident one, aren't we? I know we put a lot of pressure on you about Konoha, but think about it this way. There are plenty of people in this world who can't stand up to those who would try and destroy friendships like you three have. Orochimaru is one of those strong people, and Konoha has nowhere to turn to try and save it from what he's done to them."

They sat for a few more minutes in silence before his mom stood up. "Come on, let's get you to bed. I want you to be wide awake to enjoy town tomorrow."

Getting a hug from his mother good night, and complaining the whole time about being babied, he crawled back in to bed. The only thought that passed through his mind before he was asleep was how the bed had suddenly gotten a lot more comfortable.

X X X

Masaru waited until the boy was alone, his caretaker using whatever excuse he could to put distance between him and the child. Masaru couldn't help but sneer at the coward, letting himself be cowed by a small boy, no matter what he held inside him.

Putting a serious but not unfriendly face on, he approached the child, thinking perhaps the straightforward approach would be the most effective.

Kneeling down, he bowed his head. "It is a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance, Gaara."

The boy turned, his dead and heavily bagged eyes boring in to him, he pretended to be slightly humbled under the gaze, but did not react with fear. Again, tactics he thought would ingratiate him better with the little demon.

After a long moment the boy spoke, "And you are?"

"A ninja from the village hidden in the leaves. I felt it was proper to introduce myself to the son of the Kazekage." He mentally winced when he saw the boys eyes narrow at the mention of his father, but continued speaking, trying to direct that anger elsewhere lest he loose the boys trust. "More importantly, however, I come bearing a warning. I saw your strength displayed on what you've done to those who hunt you, and I know of people who might wish to weaken Suna further by removing you from the village."

The boy just kept staring at him, "...And?"

Masaru gave the boy a shrug. "I respect strength, and I see you possess it in large quantities, it would be a shame to be ambushed by those guests that arrived the other day. They are quite powerful, even the children I would wager. What you wish to do with the information is up to you." Standing up he nodded to the boy, "I will not waste anymore of your time then."

With that he left the room, and smiled to himself as the servant passed by him on the way back to the room. Either the boy would see the traitors as his means to enact his suicidal tendencies, or he would test his strength against them. Either way, with a bit of help from himself, the boy would find his way to those children.

X X X

Naruto was humming to himself as he ate his Daifuku, ignoring his mom as she pointed out things to Shikamaru and Hinata, instead deciding to watch the people going by. It was surprising how good it made him feel to see so many happy smiling faces, and to here other children playing. It was hard to imagine he had gone so long without knowing how nice it could be in a place like this one. Even if he wasn't used to seeing so many people at once, the variety of things going on around him made him want to create a few shadow clones his dad taught him how to make to go around and see it all.

The sightseeing was still part of the mission, though, and he wouldn't ruin their cover, even if that stand selling something called ramen smelled delicious.

Over the next few hours they went around to various stands, and Naruto got the chance to talk with a lot of nice shopkeepers, and even had one give him a free fan when he had wiped a bit of sweat off from the harsh sun. In Naruto's opinion, this was shaping up to be one of the most interesting days of his life. Talking with Hinata and Shikamaru, they agreed, and even they were acting more outgoing in the presence of so many interesting things going on around them.

Finally Kushina brought them to a place that Naruto didn't know of. It was one of the few forested and lush areas in Suna, and had a lot of odd contraptions all over the place. When he asked, Shikamaru pointed it out, "There are other kids playing over there Naruto, and adults are all over the place. I guess this is where kids gather to have fun while the parents get to be lazy for awhile."

His mom smiled down at them, "It's called a play ground. I figured it would be good for you three to interact with kids your own age, so go ahead and have some fun. I'll be nearby, so keep an eye open for trouble and make sure to get me if anything happens I somehow miss, okay?"

Naruto nodded, and grinned as he grabbed on to Shikamaru and Hinata, dragging them over to where he saw a bunch of kids gathered. "Hey!" He gave a huge grin at the other kids and introduced himself, and with a prodding got Hinata and Shikamaru to do the same. It wasn't long until they had joined the other kids for a game of tag.

In Naruto's opinion, it was a bit boring, even if he couldn't act too much like a ninja the game was still really simple. Still, he was having fun, and was enjoying the time spent with his new friends when a boy with red hair appeared from behind a tree near where he had been hiding. He was a bit far from his mom when it happened, but he had gotten so involved in the game he didn't think about the warning, and turned to greet the kid when he froze.

"Hello, Naruto." The way Gaara said his name, and the very fact that he seemed to take the effort to know his name chilled his blood. The only thought running through his head was that somehow the sight of seeing Gaara in a park where actual children played seemed silly to him.

Naruto nodded, "Gaara, right?" Deciding to play dumb, he grinned at the boy, "Did you come to play tag with us too?"

Gaara just tilted his head and looked at him for a moment. "...No. You are different than these children. More powerful than they will ever be, and your eyes tell me how hard your life has been. They would fear you if they knew the truth about how easily you could snuff their lives out." Naruto resisted the urge to gulp, wanting to curse at his stupidity for getting out of sight of his mom. He knew she watched him like a hawk, but it wouldn't take long for someone like Gaara to kill him either. "Maybe. But then again, they don't need to know, right?"

"Hrmm, perhaps. But I don't believe you should get that chance when others with harder lives than you cannot either." Something about the tone of voice and the underlying message set off alarms in his head, and he slid into a basic fighting stance, bringing his hands up and watching the boy in front of him. 

"It would be foolish to resist." Again, with that oddly adult way of speaking and detached voice. Naruto just glared back. "Yeah, well I'm not going to just roll over and die for you ass hole." Even so, Naruto knew the best idea was to escape and get back to the adults, but his line of thought was broken when he heard footsteps from behind him.

"Naruto, are you in there? Kushina is wondering where you went." Hinata appeared from the bushes, and stopped dead at the sight of Gaara, turning pale. In that moment, Naruto caught a flicker of movement in her direction coming from the gourd on the other boy's back. Jumping in front of Hinata, arms crossed as he was thrown back in to a tree, the bones in his arms snapped under the force of the blow.

Struggling to sit up without using his arms, he saw Gaara just standing there like he hadn't moved, sand swirling around him. He felt his chakra rush in to his arms, and the pain numbed. Luckily the breaks had been clean, and he knew if he could buy another minute or two they would be healed, but first he had to get Hinata out of danger.

So Naruto resorted to the first thing that came to mind, annoying him so much he ignored her. "Hey Racoon eyes! Attack girls often? I would think your dad would teach you how to fight like a real man, not a coward!" He felt the boys chakra spike and the sand started swirling around him a bit quicker. Naruto avoided wincing, he had a feeling his barbs had hit a bit close to home. But he wasn't one to be cowed by a bit of chakra, and decided to release a bit of his own, pushing back at the other boy whose eyes widened a bit. "Just give me a moment and I'll show you what a real ass kicking is like."

Getting to his feet, he kept his arms limp at his sides and spoke softly so only Hinata could hear. "Go get Mom. I don't think I can beat this guy, there's something really weird about him." Hinata looked like she was going to refuse for a moment, but stopped and nodded. "Please be careful Naruto. I'll only be a moment, so please don't get hurt." With that, she ran back the way she came. 

Inwardly Naruto was laughing a bit hysterically, he wanted to find who ever had decided to make such a large park when homicidal children were around to prey on kids like him. Shaking his head, he turned back to Gaara. "Now, I promised to kick your ass, right?" Feeling the bones in his arms pop, he knew they had healed and formed a familiar cross seal he had worked with his Dad. One thing his parents had taught him was to fight prepared, and a clone appeared next to him, holding a kunai at the ready.

Gaara raised an eyebrow. "You heal quickly." He grinned back, "Too bad you don't." With that, he lunged at the boy, his clone attacking from the other side, launching the kunai and missing the boys shoulder as he neatly side stepped the attack. He grinned, Gaara had moved in just the right direction so he could land an elbow to the boy's skull, but a moment before he could land the hit, him and his clone were met with a wall of some sort before being launched back to hit a tree again, causing the clone to disappear in a plume of smoke when it hit.

Shaking the ringing out of his ears, he stood up to see what had hit him, and realized that the sand floating around him had taken on the shape of a large fist. It seemed that the gourd and the sand weren't just for decoration then.

Growling slightly, he made two more clones, and rushed the boy who just smirked at him before calling the sand to arm, preparing it to strike him down. This time he was prepared for the wave of sand, and put up his guard in time to avoid being beaten back, and watched at his clones were destroyed in the onslaught, and as if on cue, Gaara's head shot forward and he stumbled closer to Naruto. His sand shot behind him to destroy the clone that had been hidden as the kunai that had been thrown earlier, who had waited until the sand was on the other side of Gaara to attack. Using the fact the sand was now occupied in the rear, he delivered a swift snap kick to Gaara's jaw before jumping back to avoid the counter attack.

Taking the momentary distraction he used the time to take out hit trench knives, and watched as Garra slowly straightened up, turning his eyes on Naruto and causing Naruto to freeze in fear. His eyes had turned golden and the boy was wearing a crazed grin on his face that promised blood and pain. Having just enough time to bring his guard to the side, a wave of sand beat in to him, throwing him into yet another tree. He felt multiple bones break this time, and knew he couldn't get up in time to block the next blow. Sitting there, the idle thought that he should have asked his mom what to do if even with his hands up he was getting beaten around.

He waited for the finishing blow, but after a moment it never came. Looking up, he saw the familiar dark green clothing his mother favored, and looking up further saw her stern face without it's Genjutsu over it, set in a scowl as her hand hovered over the hilt to her sword. The last thing he saw was Gaara mutter something and turn around to walk away, and the floating image of his mother's face, before he fell unconscious.

X X X

Masaru grinned. He had enjoyed watching the little demon beat up the child he guessed to be Minato's brat. The kid had been good for his age, showing some pretty impressive tactics mid battle, but compared to a force of nature like a demon container, he wasn't surprised to see who had been the one in control of the fight. Though, he had to admit to himself that whatever trick he had used to heal those arms of his had him curious, and for a moment the boy had been releasing an absurd amount of chakra for someone his age. He had met some Jounin who didn't possess that level of Chakra, something to keep in mind to report to his master at a later date.

He was also glad that the woman hadn't killed the demon boy outright. She probably didn't want to risk escaping an angry village for her murdering one of it's inhabitants, and to think, they would have praised her for it. Judging by her reaction though, he could only guess she was the tramp Minato had gotten pregnant and run away with. She would be no easy target, but he was confident in his skills against some washed up woman.

At least he knew the Gaara boy was capable on taking on what he assumed to be the best physical fighter of the three children with relative ease. If he could take out the woman while Jiraiya was busy with whatever machinations he had in mind, and have the demon take out the children, he would be rewarded greatly.

Smiling to himself, he left to return to the Kazekage's manor before he was missed.

X X X

Hinata had taken the seat near the head of his bed, and was watching the now steady rise and fall of Naruto's chest. Shikamaru had left a few minutes earlier to get food with Kushina and Jiraiya, who had left orders that she was to let no one in and keep the doors and windows locked while they were away.

Sighing, she used the back of her sleeve to wipe at the tears that kept leaking out of her eyes. When Kushina had growled at her and Shikamaru to follow her back to where they were saying, she couldn't stop thinking she must have somehow disappointed her, letting Naruto stay behind with that boy.

The very thought of Gaara sent chills down her spine, the way his emotionless eyes looked in to her as if she was a piece of garbage to be disposed of in due course. Her senses had screamed at her to run away, that she was going to be killed by another 8 year old child, but her body had refused to move. Naruto hadn't been scared like her, and had gotten injured to give her the chance to escape.

Seeing Naruto wince slightly in his sleep as he moved and aggravated one of his many fractured ribs, she felt a cold stab of guilt hit her again. If she had only been a bit braver, maybe they could have escaped together, it wasn't as if they had far to go in order to get back in to the protection of broad daylight and Kushina's presence.

A more reasoned part of her mind, the part that had been trained alongside Shikamaru in tactics said that she wouldn't have made it five feet though without Naruto's distraction. Yet the sight of him broken and in obvious pain as Kushina worked frantically to heal his wounds made her want to find a corner to hide in with her shame.

She knew he would be better soon, Kushina had said there was no damage he had taken that he couldn't heal, just a lot more damage all at once than he was used to healing, but she couldn't just shake it off like Shikamaru had. She knew the other boy was worried, but he had listened to Kushina's assessment and had sat with Naruto more out of courtesy than concern at this point.

She wondered if it had been Shikamaru in the bed instead if she would be quite this worried. She saw Shikamaru as her friend, but recently she had been having trouble around Naruto. She had always been shy, but something about the blond made her feel even more flustered than she was used to lately. The same odd feeling had kept her here at his side worrying for his safety, and she wasn't sure exactly why it was, beyond that she could not imagine leaving a friend in need.

She heard a key enter the lock, and pushed the thought out of her mind for now. She would have time to worry about those things later. Taking a kunai off the bed stand, she waited for a face to come in to view, lowering the weapon when she saw Kushina.

Kushina smiled at her and lifted up a bag containing food. "I'm back. It's very good that you listened to our instructions and are armed, but you can put the kunai down now Hinata." Hinata blushed and bowed in apology before placing the weapon back on the stand and pulled another seat close to Naruto's bed for her, where she sat down, looking incredibly tired. "I'm guessing there has been no change?" Hinata shook her head, looking down at the floor. Tugging at the edge of her beige jacked, she finally spoke up, "I'm sorry."

Kushina cast her a sideways glance before sighing. Putting the food to the side for now, she turned to face Hinata. "I saw this coming. Are you trying to say sorry for leaving Naruto alone to come get me?" Hinata nodded and stared down at the floor again, not wanting to meet her disappointed face.

It was then that she felt a light knock on the top of her head. Looking up, she saw Kushina giving her a warm look, "Well don't. In fact, you and Naruto did the right thing. That boy is dangerous, and if you had tried to help, he would have killed you both before I found out what was going on. Naruto had the right idea to try and get help, which is surprising since he inherited my stubborn nature when it comes to fighting." Hinata smiled slightly at that. 

"That's better!" Kushina gave her a small hug. "I understand you feeling bad about it, but you did nothing wrong. The only one who did something wrong was Naruto for going so far out of sight, but I can forgive him this once since it was a rare chance for you three to actually be children. But don't tell him that, it's my job to fuss over him when he wakes up."

Hinata smiled, "Shikamaru, Naruto, and myself had a lot of fun today, thank you for taking us Kushina." She sighed, "You don't always need to be so formal, Hinata. Take a lesson from Naruto, his manners are abysmal. Though, on second thought, he could use a bit more of your habits also." Hinata blushed a bit at the statement, and Kushina laughed. "I can't wait to see you two in a few years."

Hinata blinked, "Pardon?" She just smiled at her, "Nothing dear. Let's go wash up then have this ramen before it gets cold." The two women went to wash up, and when they came back they were met with a sight that made Hinata giggle. Sitting up in his bed, looking guilty, was Naruto surrounded by 4 empty bowls of ramen. 

Kushina sighed and went back to the entrance way and appeared with two more bowls. "After living with Minato, I figured something like this may happen. You learn to be prepared."

Naruto smiled at them, "So, whatever that stuff is, can I get some more?"

X X X

Naruto yawned again, trying to hide it from his mom, who was looking for any reason to send him back to bed. He had been up half the night with his mom alternating between hugging him hard enough she threatened to break his ribs again, and being yelled at for being stupid enough to wander off so far alone.

She gave him a look but he just grinned at her then pretended to be interested in the people main hall of the Kaze Kage's manor. She had decided that they wouldn't be allowed back in to the city again, so she had decided to just wait for Jiraiya to get out of the council meeting he was in. Somewhere in between being dragged off to various events with various high ranking members of Suna, and the excitement of yesterday, he had managed to make contact with his spy and arrange a meeting with the council. 

He was pretty bored by now, and Shikamaru kept on telling him to shut up so he could nap, but he couldn't sit still. The only problem with being bored though was how it tended to make him think. And when he was thinking he still had the nasty fear that Gaara was waiting for him out there somewhere. He wasn't stupid, someone like that would come after him again with the intention to settle the score.

He ground his teeth in frustration. He hated feeling weak, but for some reason compared to that kids weird jutsus he knew he was outclassed. So he started talking more to try and alleviate the boredom that let him think too much, and Shikamaru would complain again, and so the cycle continued.

Just as he was about to proclaim his boredom again, he looked up to see a dark haired man staring down at them. He had on full ninja gear, and a strange blue shirt with a red and white design on it, his forehead protector showing him as a Konoha ninja. Realizing the severity of the situation, he moved a bit closer to Hinata and Shikamaru, making it look like he was scared as he got into a better position to jump to his feet. He and the others wouldn't be foolish enough to get in the way of a fight between a ninja of his level and his mom, and knew they were to run if it came to blows.

As for his mom, she just raised an eyebrow, bringing an arm to hug her stomach in a move to bring a hand closer to her hidden sword. "You startled me. Is there something wrong?" She made it sound as if she were slightly nervous, though he knew his mom would never outwardly show it unless to throw someone off.

"I believe the problem lies between your Husband and our village, Kushina." The man's voice was deep, his eyebrow raised in a way that made him seem as if he found the act his mom was putting on only mildly amusing. "In fact, it is such a problem I don't think I can let you leave here without rectifying it. Come with me, or I will start by killing those in this hall, your brats included."

Naruto looked at his mom, who had a calculating look on her face as her eyes darted to the mass amount of people in the room. What he noticed though was when the man's eyes flashed red for a second his mom's scowl turned downright fierce as she stood up. "Naruto, Shikamaru, Hinata. I need you to wait here for a little while. Do not go anywhere you might be alone."

They nodded, and the two disappeared in a brief flash of leaves. Naruto turned around to comment on the whole thing to the others when he saw someone standing just past them, with a look of madness in his eyes he couldn't forget.

It seemed Gaara of the Sand had found them, and Naruto had the sinking suspicion he didn't care how many people were around as he looked to get revenge on him.

X X X

Woo, the end of another chapter. I think I need a cookie, or sleep. Judging by the slight edge of insanity I am feeling, I think the latter is the wiser option, but cookies sound tasty.

Anywho. After reading Two Halves by DameWren the past two days, I felt like I wanted to write a bit more about the two, but I refuse to write any real romance between 8 year olds. Besides, I will not have them just suddenly figure things out, they have to work for it.

I also was tempted to avoid writing a Hinata perspective like the plague. Not that I dislike her character, but I have never been, nor will ever be, a young female, and don't believe I could properly write that sort of character. But I figured I would try it, and it turned out easier to write her character than I thought it would be. I think I should be concerned on a various number of points, but I am not. Perhaps it is the exhaustion that is protecting me from it.

Right, anyway, sorry to all those waiting for some good old rough and tough fighting in this story. So far my fights have been straight forward and to the point. I like to rely on sleight of hand and creativity in a fight, but sometimes it is good to see a hero struggle for the victory. Well, what will Kushina do about a curse seal Sharingan user who is supposedly a high ranking ninja? And what about the children facing down a demon? Fight to the last breathe, and I will try to make each moment interesting as we wait to see who comes out the winner.

There was something important story related I was going to say, but I am falling asleep and seem to have forgotten what it is, so you'll have to wait to find out until next time. 

Enjoy everyone. And remember, I hate to sound needy, but I like those reviews. I would really appreciate critiques that allow my work to grow and get better with time.

Sleep Well!


	8. Teamwork

I never promised daily updates, but I still feel the need to say sorry this wasn't out yesterday. Things got busy, and I decided to enjoy a video gaming session for the first time in a long while. Go Guild Wars. :)

For all of you who have been waiting for a real rock em knock em fight chapter, this is it. The whole thing is essentially one big fight scene. I like fights, but I won't just put them in for the heck of it. But the story is reaching portions where it will have a lot more fighting overall now. Cause heck, I don't think Orochimaru will back down if you got a big ol hug from Naruto. Though, since the common view is he is a pedophile, who knows, he might.

Anywho. All Rights to those who deserve them. Now on to the chapter!

Rekindle: Teamwork

Jiraiya resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the group of old fools in front of him. Of the whole 24 person council, he could count on one hand the people who had anything more than a grain of rice for brains, the way they were acting over his presence.  
And he hadn't even gotten to the point of his being here yet.  
Sighing, he tuned them out and extended his senses out past the dingy dark room. Not for the first time since he entered, he felt a brief intense spike in Chakra somewhere close by before it disappeared again. Normally he wouldn't think of it, being in the middle of a major ninja village, as the spikes could be coming from one of the many Suna ninjas training. Yet something seemed familiar about the Chakra, and Jiraiya had long learned to trust his instincts on things like this, and they wanted him to go out there and investigate what was going on.  
Instead he was stuck listening to these old Harpies rail on about how his presence would ruin their fostering relationship with the Leaf. No one but a few even stopped to consider that whatever his reason, it must be important to come out of hiding so suddenly, and that to show up in Suna of all places meant they were inexorably connected to the missing nins.  
When his patience was about to break, however, Hiroshi stood up, his gaze passing over his fellow council members. "I believe your points have been made. We are honor bound to hear his request at this point, if you are so worried about the outcome, then let the man speak and be done with it."  
Jiraiya nodded at Hiroshi, glad for one reasoned mind among the lot.  
Jiraiya turned to the other council members. "Before I begin, let me ensure that you trust what I have to say first." Bringing his hands up so as to be prepared to form a seal, he looked at Hiroshi, waiting until the man nodded his ascent before completing them. The ninja guards around the room looked ready to rush him at the first sign of danger, but almost as soon as he had begun, it was over, and everyone in the room waited in bated breath to see what would come of it. Finally Hiroshi spoke up, "Am I to believe that was a seal designed for the sake of your speaking only the truth, Jiraiya?"  
Jiraiya nodded, "That is correct."

Another council member sneered at him. "And why should we believe you about that?" Jiraiya shrugged, "I will teach it to your men afterwards if you wish. You can have a Jutsu expert examine it, I think you'll find nothing wrong with it."  
Hiroshi gave him a small smile, "That could be quite an interesting Jutsu, especially on someone as interesting as you." Jiraiya grinned, "Perhaps later we can discuss it, for now I bring you tidings of the true intentions of Konoha when it comes to Suna."  
Every back in the room stiffened, and Jiraiya took a deep breath before starting his report, trying to ignore the Chakra spikes outside.

X X X

Kushina kept her eyes on the ninjas hips, waiting to see if he would make his move. For now he seemed content in standing there, and she could just imagine that patented Uchiha smirk on his face. Instead, she decided to dig for information, there had been some rumors that had been passed along by Jiraiya's spies a few months back that had to do with the Uchihas. "I heard rumors your clan was destroyed, pity they didn't kill you either."

"Yes, there was a rather unfortunate incident a few months ago, but it is no matter, Orochimaru-sama frightened off the perpetrator before he could cause much harm." Even though it answered her question, Kushina was disgusted. She supposed to an arrogant Uchiha like himself, the idea of a fellow clan member killing most of the members in his clan single handedly was something to be proud of. She had never cared for the Uchihas, but she was glad that one of them had escaped and took most of the scum with him before he left.

"Did it wound your pride to have to have that Snake faced bastard protect you while a boy killed ninjas who were probably better than you could ever dream of being?" She couldn't see his face, but judging by the sudden spike in Chakra, she guessed she hit a sore point. She decided to not press the subject further, she didn't want to fall in to the trap of pissing him off too much, sometimes it only made enemies more unpredictable and dangerous. 

Instead, she resisted the urge to sigh. Fighting people with blood lines of the eyes like his were always such a hassle. She would be unable to tell what Jutsu's he had decided to use until they were already on their way to her. And the sharingan was even more annoying for it's Genjutsu abilities and the manner with which it could copy her actions. She had made sure to lead him as far away from everything else as possible, opting to fight on the open sand outside the city so as to not further limit her line of sight. She had only so many smoke bombs, and couldn't afford to waste them to get her bearings amongst the buildings while she had him temporarily blinded. She just hoped she would have a place to hide should the need arise.

She saw his movement with enough time to spare to jump back and draw her katana. He was quick, but she doubted he was used to fighting an opponent who wasn't at least mildly under the effect of his eyes. It gave her an advantage, and she would take what she could get right now.

She felt the Chakra rise ahead of her, and waited to feel a telltale sign of where the attack was coming from before lunging at the nin. She could feel the hot air of some fire technique approaching from her right side, and she lunged forward and to the left, catching the man as he hoped to attack her from the direction he expected her to dodge in. She didn't dare aim for the part of his body she couldn't see, and settled for a shallow cut along his ribcage, even as he twirled around to avoid a more lethal strike. Using his momentum, he brought his leg up in a spinning roundhouse kick to her kidneys.

The both stumbled back a few feet, taking a moment to catch their breath as they fought down the pain. She had drawn first blood, but it was a minor wound, and she didn't doubt it would only push him to new heights to beat her.

"I have to admit, you're rather talented for a simple woman." Kushina ground her teeth, she hated being underestimated because of her sex. "Funny, I would say the same thing, but you're not all that talented, Uchiha."

He growled at her, and attacked her again, this time head on. She was able to stay one step ahead of his attacks, and gave no quarter, not allowing him time to use his Jutsu's, but she couldn't land a hit on him either. No matter what strategy she tried, he would inch out of the way at the last moment.

She knew that he was reading the way her body was moving, and adjusting for it at the last moment, another trade mark of those eye's of his. Deciding to try and change her style, she brought her sword in high, level with her head in a straight thrust towards him. As she guessed, he dodged to the side, and pushing off with her back foot she folded in her sword so it was parallel to her body, and moved past the ninja, feeling her blade slice in to the side of his neck, just an inch shy of an instant kill.

She saw him lift his hand shakily to his neck, suspecting the rapid loss of blood was making things hard for him now. She saw his hand come down covered in his own blood, and heard a growl before the hand and the rest of his body that she could see, turned a deep wine red that showed he was using his curse seal. The next thing she felt was a fist in her stomach and she was launched back a few feet, and using one hand she used her momentum to flip back to her feet even further away. Risking a glance up, she saw the wound in his neck was perfectly healed, and she could see the ninjas whole body shaking with rage.

Just great, she thought. Just bloody great.

X X X

Naruto knew it was bad when Shikamaru cared enough about something to actually show he was scared of it. The normally quiet boy was pale and shaking slightly at the sheer amount of Chakra and blood lust rolling off the boy in front of him.

Hinata was almost as bad, though this time she seemed determined to try and not be frozen with fear, and had stepped in front of Shikamaru slightly, as he was experiencing this feeling for the first time. He could tell though push come to shove, both of them were scared enough they wouldn't be able to throw a kunai right at the moment, let alone take on someone like Gaara.

What he hated to admit even to himself was that he didn't know if he could put up a fight either. His legs were shaking and a cold sweat had broken out over his entire body. He would be lucky if he could fight his way out of a cardboard box at the moment.

The worst part is Gaara seemed to notice, and gave him a cold sneer. "I want to finish our fight, Naruto. You hit me, no one has EVER hit me before." With that sand started swirling around the boy, and as if perhaps seeing the danger they were in finally, everyone around them began to scream and run away in fright. 

"Oy! There are people around, don't get them involved in our fight!" Gaara didn't even blink at that before he let his sand strike a woman next to him, sending her skidding across the floor of the hall. "I could care less if they all die. The only one I am worried about is you, I want you to die slowly."

Naruto looked between Gaara and the woman on the floor, something building up inside his chest. He could tell he had really hurt her, and all she had been doing was trying to escape a crazed kid with too much power for his own good. "Don't you care at all for the other people in this town? They did nothing wrong!" 

Finally Gaara reacted, and the emotion was worse than the dead face. It was an ugly sneer as if he thought Naruto the dumbest creature on the planet. "They EXIST. They are here, enjoying their lives when I must suffer for them. I would have them all dead were it my choice." 

A thought of Gaara standing over the bodies of the children Naruto played with in the park yesterday came to mind. The horrible thought that they would be murdered simply because Gaara was strong and crazy and they were too weak to protect themselves. Something broke inside Naruto, and he growled as he let his Chakra go, batting back at the other boy's chakra and causing Hinata and Shikamaru to gasp in air at the sudden release in tension from the blood lust.

Getting control over himself, he drew it back in, not wanting to waste his Chakra before a fight, and was glad to see Gaara didn't try and push back. Turning to Shikamaru and Hinata he gave them a small smile. "All right there?"

They nodded at him and he smiled. "Okay. Make sure to get really far away, I'll try to hold him off as long as possible." He gave them another smile and turned to face Gaara, who seemed content on waiting for now, but after a moment didn't feel the other two leave. Turning around he saw the two of them frowning at him. Shikamaru sighed and ran a hand through his hair, turning to Hinata. "What did we do to get stuck with such a stupid teammate, huh? I bet we drowned kittens in a past life or something."

Hinata nodded, "I'm starting to wonder how dense Naruto can be as well." Naruto gawked, Hinata never bad mouthed anyone. "Hey! I'm standing right here ya know!"

Shikamaru just looked at him with a bored expression, "I know, so are we and you won't be able to change that fact."

Hinata nodded, "What Shikamaru means is that we won't leave you behind, Naruto." She smiled at him. "Even if it's dangerous, we're here to help you."

Naruto was beside himself. He didn't think they got just how dangerous Gaara was. He pointed at the other boy just standing there quietly. "Don't you realize you could die?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "So could you if you fought alone. And a damn sight faster than if we helped save your sorry behind."

Hinata placed a hand on his shoulder. "Naruto. We won't let you do this alone. We're ninjas also, and you can't coddle us all the time. There is no where to run or hide, and we'll make our stand here right by your side, even if we may die doing so. We need to work together through this." He didn't know what to say to something like that. Normally all this mushy stuff would have been awkward for him, but somehow faced with someone who had every intention to murder him, it made him feel better knowing he would go down with his friends there. 

He nodded to them and turned back to Gaara. He took a moment to make sure no one else was left in the hall before glaring at the boy. "I may not have been born here, and I don't really know anyone in Suna yet, but there is no way in hell I'm going to let you hurt anyone in this town just because you damn well please."

Gaara rolled his eyes, "Does this mean you have finished with the disgusting bleeding heart speeches?" Naruto grinned, "Not quite." He turned around to grin at his friends, "You two rock!" Shikamaru smirked and Hinata smiled slightly at that. Turning back around, he smirked at Gaara. "NOW I'm ready to kick your ass."

Pulling out his trench knives, he stood in front of the other two, just like they would when they practiced team sparring. The first attack came as a wave of sand approached from his right, attempting to crush him and Shikamaru underneath it. Shikamaru moved out of the way, putting room between him and Gaara. Naruto liked to think he came up with good strategies in a fight, but Shikamaru was a lot better, and he would usually direct them from the back before using what little of his blood limit he had been able to figure out on the opponent. It was Naruto's job to be where Shikamaru told him to be so he could try and capture the opponents shadow and immobilize them.

For now though, they would have to play it by ear. And instead of letting the wave continue past and hit Hinata, he brought his trench knives up to block the sand, pushing Chakra in to his arms to absorb the impact before it dissipated.

"Behind you, Naruto!" Hinata's cry gave him enough time to leap forward and roll out of the path of the sand as Hinata jumped towards Shikamaru. Looking back quickly over his shoulder he saw a wall of sand heading towards him, and in front of him was Gaara, smirking in his evil, I want to tear you limb from limb, way.

Just great, he thought. Just bloody great.

X X X

Minato frowned. He had so far intercepted 5 different messages leaving Suna, but it wasn't that which had him bothered. 

He could feel some pretty intense fighting coming from Suna, more than five miles away at the moment. Whoever was putting it out had an amazing amount of Chakra, or he had gotten a lot more sensitive about sensing it.

He looked down into his bowl of stew, unable to shake the unease that was building up in his stomach.

X X X

Kushina ducked under a punch that had been aimed at her head, landing a palm strike on the ninja, activating the explosive note that had been palmed in her hand and jumped back a split second before it exploded, causing a plume of smoke to engulf the Uchiha. Using the chance, she located her sword, which had been knocked out of her hands a few moments ago and ran to it, picking it up just in time to use it to guard against various weapons being launched at her.

She was getting tired of feeling like a mouse trying to stand up to the cat in this fight. Since he had changed, she had been unable to cut him again. In fact, he had even stood there as she tried, and laughed off an attempt that just slid over his skin and toted on about his masters power. Well, until she had managed to tag him with the first explosive note right to the face, that seemed to shut him up pretty quickly.

Ducking as fireball, she jumped back and took out a brace of wire attached to the end of a kunai and threw it at him. He had learned to give her weapons a wide margin, but she used the wire and brought the kunai back, having it swing around his body, catching him in the wire. Pulling out her last few smoke bombs she threw them at his feet, buying herself a moment to prepare.

She had a good idea of how she could win, the question was, would he buy it?

X X X

Masaru growled, finally finding the weakest point in the wire, and flexed until it snapped. That stupid woman was causing him no end of trouble. She was supposed to have been an easy kill, yet he would have died a handful times if not for the curse seal.

He repeated the words that close doesn't count in a life and death fight, but his pride still boiled, and he couldn't wait to have her broken at his feet. Masaru smirked, the curse seal tended to bring out a more primal side of him he hadn't known when he had been a Genin. In his Genin days, it was no surprise that he had been the epitome of Uchiha perfection and cool killer grace, but there was something immensely satisfying about letting himself enjoy the hunt and kill.

Sauntering out of the smoke, he was mildly surprised to see her standing there, sword tip first in the ground next to her and her eyes locked on his. "I'm tired of this game, it's about time for me to show you why you shouldn't be so arrogant, Uchiha. Let me show you why the Uzumaki clan was feared as some of the strongest warriors in Whirlpool country."

Masaru's eyes itched as she began going through seals at a breakneck pace. It was fast, but she had made the mistake of thinking she could beat his speed when he was using the Sharingan. He grinned at her increasingly grim expression when he copied her seals, and finished it just as she did, wondering what the result would be.

He felt a brief surge of Chakra over his palm and had enough time to open his fist slightly for a crystalline katana enter his hand, reflecting the light in a rainbow of colors. It was beyond exquisite. He had little experience with katanas, but he could tell it was a master piece, perfectly balanced, and razor sharp. Flourishing it, he smirked at her. He was no master swordsman, but with the curse seal and his eyes, he didn't need to be. "Surprised?" He sneered at her, but her face was set in a grim line, watching him, waiting for something.

It was then that he felt the pull deep down inside of him, as if he were summoning all of his Chakra at once, but stronger, and out of his control. He tried to push it back down, but it was like trying to push back the wind, and it slipped around him, and pooled in the blade. 

In desperation he tried to drop the blade, but found he had lost control of his hand, and it was stuck firmly over the hilt as more Chakra filled it. For what seemed like an eternity, more and more Chakra was pulled up from his reserves. Finally he dropped to his knees as the exhaustion hit him, all the while Kushina watched from a distance, her face unreadable.

It was then that the blade begin to pulse, and in an explosion of crystal and Chakra, the sword shattered, puncturing his body in hundreds of places as he screamed out in pain. When the last shard had passed through him he collapsed to the ground panting, his eyes fixed on the feet of the woman who was now walking towards him.

She knelt before him, and he forced himself to look up in to her face. Slowly, and as if talking to a child, she spoke. "Just because you can copy someone's technique does not mean you are strong enough to handle it. That technique can only be performed by those who know the full set of hand seals, for which you didn't see while in that smoke screen. And only a true sword master can learn those seals. You lost because you relied too heavily on other peoples strength. And for trying to harm me and my children, I will let you test this blade and let me see if it can still cut anything as it is said it can."

The last thing Masaru saw was the blade speeding towards his neck.

X X X

Instead of deciding to tempt fate by getting close to Gaara without a plan, Naruto decided to go on the defensive for once. Creating two clones, he had them kneel down and put their hands together, having them throw him up and over the wall of sand just in time to avoid being crushed, causing him to land by Hinata and Shikamaru.

"Shadow Clones and Henge, quickly." Shikamaru hissed, and Naruto created three more clones and made two of them henge in to the shape of Hinata and Shikamaru, with the real ones jumping away to hide behind a pillar as the wall of sand finally died down, bringing Gaara back in to sight.

Naruto turned to look at Shikamaru, "Any good ideas? I'm not really good at this whole think first thing, and I don't think I wanna go against that without a plan." Naruto peeked out again, glad to see the clones were still alive and dodging the sand, taking Gaara's attention for the moment.

Shikamaru shook his head. "None. We're not ready to handle something like this in a fight and win. The only thing I can think of is to have you get a clone to Jiraiya. He must have felt the fighting by now, we just need him to realize what is going on so he can come help us."

Naruto nodded, creating another clone before it henged in to a mouse and ran off towards the nearest exit, and hopefully to Jiraiya. Shikamaru grimaced, "Now we just have to hold him off for however long we can. Hinata, you stay back and let us know if he is trying anything sneaky with your Byakugan. Naruto, I know it's troublesome, but you have to find someway to occupy his sand for long enough away from me that I can try to capture him. I don't think I have the Shadow Bind Jutsu down just right, so it takes a lot of Chakra, so we better get it right on the first try." Naruto nodded just before a flash of sand hitting him in three separate places entered his mind all at once. He looked at the other two with a sheepish face, " I think we better move now."

Hinata and Shikamaru's eyes widened, and they jumped out of the way as a large amount of sand engulfed everything around the pillar they had been behind.

Naruto nodded to the other two and rushed in to Gaara, creating a clone as ran, letting the clone continue it's forward attack as he jumped over Gaara, and twisted in mid air to avoid a tendril of sand that shot out at him. As the clone reached the wall of sand in front, it used it's trench knives with a bit of Chakra in them to produce a big enough hole in the sand that more had to fill it in before hitting the clone in the chest and destroying it. Using the same strategy as he used in the playground, he used the chance to land a sidekick to the boys back before jumping away, sure he had gotten his attention back on him. He may not be fast enough to get past that sand, but with proper timing for his clones, it had the same effect.

"So, that makes three times I've hit you now." Naruto grinned at Gaara, "Guess I am just that awesome that I can do what others haven't before. Just wait for what they will say once I beat you."

Gaara growled at that and Naruto scrambled to avoid the wild blows that were being thrown at him. He had to keep the fight over here, so Hinata and Shikamaru could work on capturing him, but with each passing moment the sand got just a bit faster, and a little bit stronger. Something was also up with Gaara. His eyes had started turning that creepy golden color again, and Naruto had a bad feeling that it was a sign of pain in his future.

Finally Naruto was too slow, and sand clipped his shoulder, taking a chunk of flesh with it. Gritting his teeth, he put his hand over the wound and forced his bloodline to work on the wound, and the bleeding slowed down to a trickle. Looking up, he realized his mistake. It had only taken that split second for Gaara to pin him in with his sand on all sides, ready and poised to strike. 

Naruto looked up in horror at Gaara, expecting him to direct his sand to attack at any moment, but the boy didn't and just stood there staring at him. After a tense moment, Naruto realized he wasn't going to attack, and looked down at the boys feet, relief flooding him as he saw a shadow connected to the boy's own.

Naruto fell back on to his butt and let loose a small hysterical chuckle. He saw Hinata running over to his side, and she knelt beside him. "Are you all right Naruto?" Naruto nodded slightly, swallowing down further laughter. "Somehow." He turned to see Shikamaru focusing intently on Gaara, sweat running down his brow as he fought to hold on to the Jutsu. He decided for once he could wait on yelling at Shikamaru for taking his god damned time, not when the boy looked as if he barely had control over Gaara. Pushing himself up to his feet, he took off his trench knives, and pulled out some wire. He had to make sure to knock out and immobilize Gaara before Shikamaru lost control.

He had only taken a step forward when Gaara let his head hang down, and Naruto froze, not sure what was about to occur, but getting a bad feeling. The first thing he noticed though was a soft chuckle from Gaara that made his skin crawl. Deciding to not test fate any longer, he began to run at Gaara, intent on ending the fight before he pulled out some trick, but the movement seemed to alert Gaara, and he suddenly stood straight up, and with a wave of his hand sent out two waves of sand.

He realized what was going on, but before he could even get a word out in warning, the sand hit Hinata and Shikamaru, sending them into the walls of the room, where the slid down them, unconscious.

Gaara then turned to fully face Naruto, an entire portion of his body covered in sand, eyes gold and wild as he let loose a high pitched giggle.

X X X

The clone of Naruto saw guards everywhere along the hallway to the council room. If he tried to go in there without permission, he knew it would be over in a second. Maybe the other Naruto could have made it, but he knew a hard tap and he was a goner.

The clone took a moment to try and think about getting in before he grabbed his head in pain. Why did the original have to be so stupid when it came to things like this. He probably should have been more worried about how he was insulting himself, but he just shrugged it off. If brains wouldn't work, he would just go for brawn.

Getting a sense for just how much Chakra had been put in to the Jutsu that made him, he made the seal for the Kage Bunshin and produced 4 more of himself. It wasn't a lot, but he would just have to make due for now. Sending one clone in, it attracted the attention of all the ninjas, who drew their weapons at the approach of the slowly advancing figure. Just as it got there, it smiled at them and punched itself in the stomach, destroying itself in a large plume of smoke that filled the small hallway. Sending in the other three clones, the first clone waited a second for them to draw the attention away and ran for the door.

He got to the handle and had it turned when he heard a yell from a ninja who spotted him. Yanking hard, he opened it and jumped inside. In front of him stood Jiraiya, who turned and looked at him with a confused and angry expression, obviously annoyed for his interruption.

"You have to help us, I don't know how much longer they can last out there." With that, he felt for a split second a pain to the back of his skull as one of the ninjas from the hall hit him before he went up in a plume of smoke.

X X X

Jiraiya was already moving to the door when the clone had exploded, but his way was blocked by the assorted ninja from the hallway. From behind him he heard one of the elders yell out, "Explain yourself for this disruption, Jiraiya!"

Jiraiya was torn for a second. If he ignored the man he ran the risk that he would alienate Suna and it would be sure death trying to escape. Or he let the children he saw like his own family die. 

In the end, the choice wasn't hard. He turned to look at the old man, "We'll finish this discussion later." He turned back and saw the ninjas in front of him tense, ready for battle. He was just about to use a seal to try and get them out of the way when he felt an overwhelming pressure weigh down on him. It was so strong many of the council started gasping for breath, and even the ninja in front of him looked pale and shaken.

Jiraiya would recognize the feel of youki anywhere after his brief encounter with Orochimaru. And the only person in Suna at the moment who could use it was that boy. Jiraiya had a seeking feeling he had better get to the children as soon as possible, otherwise there may not be much left of them to find.

X X X

Minato shot up from his bed roll, a cold sweat dripping down his back. He could feel the Chakra and youki coming from Suna as if he were standing right next to it. He knew something was wrong, and with a quick signal to Kakashi to stay put, made his way to Suna as fast as he could.

X X X

Kushina tried her best to make her way to the source of the youki, but when her body refused to move, all she could do was curse. She didn't think that Uchiha would take so much out of her, but her muscles were shaking, and her Chakra was low. It was all she could do to crawl back to town, let alone get back in time to make a difference.

Kushina looked up at the walls of the city in the distance. She could only hope her children would stay safe somehow.

X X X

Naruto looked between the prone forms of his friends. Deep down in his mind he knew he should be feeling angry for what Gaara did, but those feelings were over shadowed by a calm acceptance. He knew he had to stop Gaara now, otherwise Shikamaru and Hinata would be killed. Actually seeing his friends injured made it all the more real how seriously he would have to fight here. He could only guess this was the feeling that his mother talked about that set Konoha ninjas apart. The drive to accomplish against impossible goals for his friends.

He didn't even say a word as he put the wire away and put the trench knives back on. He channeled Chakra in to them, and took a fighting stance. 

Gaara's voice was unnaturally high and if anything more sadistic than before. "Oh goody! A plaything to kill! If only the boy would fall totally asleep, we could REALLY play, human child!" Naruto scowled. "Shut up and fight." Gaara's eyes narrowed, and he punched out with an arm covered in sand. Stepping to the side, Naruto used the trench knife braced against his forearm to avoid getting impaled in the side by it. Running in to attack, he came up short as the sand came up before him, and summoning a clone in front of him, he spring boarded off it's back to get out of the way before the sand hit.

The amount of Chakra, sand, and some other odd feeling surrounded Gaara. He knew he couldn't get close like he was, and eventually he would make another mistake and that would be the end of the fight. If he was to win, it would have to be in a single decisive move. He didn't have summons like Jiraiya, who still hadn't had the decency to show up, or the kick ass Jutsu's like his father. The only thing he really had that was special for his age was his stamina, his bloodline, and the sheer amount of Chakra. 

He could work with that. He only wished he had his ninja pouch, but he hadn't been allowed to bring a full set of supplies for fear of looking too much like a ninja.

Jumping out of the way of another blast of sand, he saw Gaara's other arm start to cover itself in sand and reach out for him. He made a split second decision, and decided not to dodge.

The hit hurt like hell, and if he hadn't been expecting it, he would have probably passed out on the spot, but instead he sat there dazed in the wake of the brutal attack. Seeing him on the ground did nothing but make Gaara giggle again as he pulled more sand out of that gourd of his.

Bracing himself, he managed to curl up before wave after wave of sand hit him. He could hear his bones creaking and on occasion snapping, but he just tried his best to weather the attack. The only thing that kept him from falling in to unconsciousness as the pain became too much was the thought of what would happen to his friends and the people of Suna if he failed. Finally the end came, and Gaara stood there, panting slightly with a crazed look in his eye.

After a long moment where Naruto was sure he was going to start hitting him again, it seemed as if Gaara took him for dead. He saw Gaara turn to finish off Hinata and Shikamaru, and at that moment Naruto let it go.

All the Chakra he had been holding back from healing his wounds he let loose in one giant burst, healing some of the worst injuries in a few seconds, with the rest floating in pale tendrils around his body. He didn't even give the boy enough time to finish turning around to face him again, he lunged at him, and used his Chakra to bat away the sand that rose up to defend him. Grabbing on to the back of the boy's head he glared at him. "Wake the hell up!" With that, he yanked the boys head down as his knee came up, connecting with his forehead. Letting go of the boy, he collapsed back to the ground as the rest of his injuries flared up. The pain was enough that he doubted he could move at the moment.

Turning his head slightly he saw Gaara lying there on the ground, half lidded eyes staring at him. "I won't let you hurt my friends." Naruto glared at Gaara as he said that, but instead of glaring back, Gaara just looked confused before finally passing out.

Hoping nothing else would go wrong, Naruto couldn't help but do the same.

X X X

Kushina pushed herself to her feet as the oppressive Chakra disappeared. For a moment she had sensed an overly familiar Chakra match the one she had been feeling, and then both suddenly disappeared. She still felt a bit weak kneed, but tried to ignore the feeling of weakness, not liking the idea that she had been forced to succumb to being beaten down by Chakra alone like a rookie ninja, no matter what state she was in.

She also was trying to ignore the fact that she was swaying on her feet. It was that reason that she growled and she spun around when she heard a familiar voice laughing slightly at her.

Standing there was Minato, a slight smile on his face as he watched her try her best to not sway like a tree in the wind. Now she directed her growl just at him, "Shut up, and help me here if you're in good enough shape to get your sorry butt here so quickly." 

He smiled and didn't say anything as he put an arm around her shoulders, lending her his support as they walked through the gate. The few guards who had overcome the oppressive Chakra they had just been experiencing gawked at who was walking through their gates, too much in shock to try and stop him as per protocol.

She turned her gaze back to him. "We have to hurry Minato, I don't know what happened, but I think it has to do with Naruto and the others." Minato nodded, but didn't increase his pace. "He's fine, so are the other two. I can feel their Chakra, it's strong and stable, and whatever was producing the youki has settled down too. If the injuries were serious their Chakra would be fluctuating more, I won't have you hurt yourself as well by going too quickly."

Kushina glared at him. Glared because she didn't like having to wait to see if her children were okay, and glaring because she knew he was right. "If you're wrong, I will make you into a Kunoichi, Minato." 

X X X

Jiraiya walked past the final ninja who had just dropped into unconsciousness. The ninja had been well trained. Not hard to beat, but good enough simply incapacitating them so as to not anger Suna anymore had taken him a few minutes more than he would have liked. Whatever had been going on past these doors had already ended, and if he found that the children were harmed in anyway because of this stupid fight, he would make sure to personally come back and introduce them to the business end of a battle toad.

Pushing open the door to the main hall of the Kaze Kage's tower, he saw the room was a mess. There was broken furniture and antiques all around the great hall. And in the middle of it he saw something that made his heart stop. Quickly looking around, he found two more small shapes on the edges of the hall. Going to them first, he checked their vital signs, glad to see they had nothing worse than a bump on the head each and in the case of Shikamaru, a broken bone in their forearm. Bringing them closer to Naruto, he winced as he saw the shape the other boy was in.

He had bruises all over his body, something that made him wonder how bad a beating he must have taken if they hadn't healed already, and his leg was actually twisted the wrong way. The sign of a nasty broken bone. He didn't doubt that he probably had worse injuries he couldn't see, but he could feel the slight movement of Chakra in him moving to heal his wounds. He would live, but he would still need medical attention to help with the worst of his injuries.

At the sound of a moan, he turned to see the demon vessel lying nearby. He looked relatively unscathed, except for a large black eye and a big bruise on his forehead. Whatever had happened looked like it must have hurt, and probably was what had ended the fight.

Standing up and walking to the boy, he examined him, finding on his chest the seal for whatever demon the boy carried. On close inspection, Jiraiya was disgusted with the former Kazekage. This seal wasn't designed to keep the demon from taking over in the slightest, and he wasn't surprised the boy had become so violent towards others. It probably plagued him every moment of the day trying to wrestle control away, and it was a testament to the boy's stubborn will he hadn't gone on a killing spree years ago.

Pulling up his Chakra, he added extra seals on top of the boy's original seal. It wouldn't totally stop the effect of the demon's Chakra on him, but until he had time to work with Minato on something better, it would help to curb the presence of the demon in the boy's mind.

As if on cue, doors on both sides of the hall opened. From the direction he had come filed in the council members, hesitant, and flanked with more ninjas in fear of an attack. The other door revealed Minato and Kushina, both tired looking, but looking determined enough to take on all of Suna to get to the children.

He turned to them first. "They're all right. A bit injured, and Naruto needs Tsunade's attention soon, but they will be okay." Kushina breathed a sigh of relief and Minato gave him a soft smile before they turned to face the surprised council members, all of who were staring at Minato. Jiraiya turned back to them, his face hard. "I believe we have a few final things to discuss while I have you all gathered here."

X X X

The future Kaze Kage, hand picked by Orochimaru, grinned to himself under the white and blue robes of his new office as he walked over another dune. He had decided to journey there by himself, and by foot, so as to take time to savor the victory. It also was in character of the Kaze Kage, and he didn't want to give anyone in Suna a reason to be concerned until he was ready to have Orochimaru take over the place.

Passing over a dune, he suddenly felt Chakra all around him, and from the sand he saw what appeared to be all of the Jounin of Suna, and at their head were three individuals that made him blanch at the sight of. He recognized the tall white haired man as the toad Sannin, and beside him the Yondaime and his wife. 

The last thing that went through his mind before he was cut down on the spot was that Orochimaru would not be pleased at all when he got the news.

X X X

**Please take the time to review in response to a poll I will post. This is actually important for the story.**

In order to head off the inevitable comment, no, Minato, Jiraiya, Naruto, nor anyone else in our merry band will be taking over Suna. Just think of Suna as a really good ally to them now. 

Overall, hopefully everyone enjoyed that chapter. I am not good at writing those inspirational moments in a story, but this chapter needed them, so I tried to subtly add them in. It's important that the characters grow, so hopefully this is a sign they are going in the right direction.

Expect a time skip in the near future. Also, we haven't heard from Orochimaru in awhile, we might or might not get a look in to the mind of that snake in the near future as well. Hints for next time will be Training and a Time Skip.

Again, Reviews are appreciated. I like to know people are enjoying the story. If I don't see reviews, I wonder if I am doing something wrong and might want to change something in the story to make it liked by more people. I am also still willing to accept the help of a beta.

One last weird thing, looking at the views, I see more people read chapter 6 than chapter 5. Unless people are re reading this, skipping ahead to the latest chapter will only confuse you. :p

**Poll**

**Ino/Chouji/Shino**

**Ino/Chouji/Kiba**

**Kiba/Chouji/TenTen**

**Shino/Kiba/TenTen**

**Chouji/TenTen/Shino**


	9. Return to Hiding

Rekindle: Return to Hiding

Updated:4/18/2007

(I hope you all enjoy the new and improved version of this chapter. I want to thank Falconrok5 for being kind enough to take time to help me Beta the story. He was willing to rework this chapter, and I think he caught some important things that took away from the quality of the story. He will be helping with future chapters, so don't forget to say thanks to him as well in the reviews if you feel so inclined.)

All Rights to those who earned them first.

Rekindle: Return to Hiding

Minato brushed back a bit of Naruto's hair from his face, and watched him as he slept. Tsunade had given him a clean bill of health that morning, saying that he just needed rest and was one lucky kid, surviving such a beating. He and Kushina had agreed that they wanted one of them there and awake when he woke up, and seeing how Kushina was still a bit weak-kneed from using so much Chakra, he had offered to stay by Naruto's bed first.

Sitting there, he couldn't help but think of the past events that had occurred that very day. After he had rushed back from joining the Anbu of Suna to assassinate the impostor, the council members of Suna had surrounded him.

Each one had their own questions and comments for him, with their own petty agendas that made even Minato's patience begin to wear thin. The most prevalent question had been one he had expected the moment they decided to enter the city to rescue the children.

They had wanted him to become their new Kaze Kage. Most claimed that as a powerful ninja who had done them a service in the war he deserved the position, while some even went as far to say it was his fault for Orochimaru's rise to power, and thus his responsibility to protect them. He had been trying to find a way to get out of the possible political mess a refusal could cause when he received and unexpected ally on the council. The only council member who had been standing back and hadn't greeted him had finally decided to speak up.

"I disagree on making this man our leader." He stepped up and nodded to Minato. "My name is Hiroshi, and I mean no offense, former Hokage of Konoha. Listening to the story Jiraiya has told us, however, I assume it would not be in your best interests to remain in any one nation for an extended period of time, at the moment, is that correct?" Minato had nodded, glad someone on the council understood his position. Jiraiya had pointed out the man, and had been generous with his praises of him, though warned him also of how he appeared kind but was seemingly the head of the council despite his soft mannerisms.

He had seen it first-hand as well. Minato could still remember the way the man had stood up to the council and gotten them to listen. Hiroshi had explained the assassination risks of staying in a large village, as well as the need for secrecy in which to train. He hadn't said they were training the children to fight, but he had a feeling that Hiroshi knew more about how things really were than he let on. Minato didn't doubt that if the man were a ninja, he would have been a perfect candidate for the position of Kage.

As it was, they still wanted him to help choose a new Kage in time, as well as to have the right to use his name as a means of buying some security from people too scared to attack the combined strength of Suna and an infamous ninja like himself.

After being forced to listen to discussions of potential candidates for a time, he had managed to escape by expressing his desire to visit his son, and had promised to speak to Hiroshi at a later date.

Minato looked down at Naruto and sighed. Part of him wanted to stay in Suna, and let the children have a chance to experience a slightly more normal life than they had been living, but he knew it was an idle fancy. There was no way Orochimaru would grant any peace to Suna if he knew that they made permanent residence there. It always stood the chance of a direct attack from Orochimaru himself, but without him there to aggravate the point, they stood a better chance of Orochimaru simply biding his time for a better moment at which to strike back at the Sand. He also had the matter Hiroshi pointed out. If he didn't keep moving, it was likely some ninja would take the chance to attack those around him, and most likely the children. He was good, but it was not difficult to perform an assassination in an entire town full of potential ninja waiting to strike out at him and those he cared for.

The children had grown into extremely powerful ninja, especially for their age, and definitely much stronger than they probably could have hoped for if they had grown up and gone to the academy like normal kids aiming to be Ninja. They had even done an admirable job against the boy Gaara, though if he had been any more in control of the power the demon offered him, he didn't think he would be sitting here with his son at the moment. Yet they weren't ready to face hardened ninja who would attack them from the shadows at a moment's notice through stealth and opportunistic circumstances.

He was drawn out of his thoughts when he saw his son's face start to scrunch up, and slowly his eyes opened to look up at him. "Dad?" He started to sit up and winced a bit at the motion.

Minato smiled at him and placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder, gently pushing him back in to a lying position. "Your mother's and Tsunade's orders. Lay back, rest, or they will kill you." Naruto glowered, "Some bed side manner." He chuckled at Naruto's antics, glad to see he was well enough for sarcasm. "Naruto. Most grown ninja would have died doing what you did today. Let them have their moment and just deal with their coddling. You have no idea how annoying your mother can get when she wants to be." He grinned at Naruto and he grinned back, glad he felt well enough to take part in some playful banter.

The laughter turned into silence though, and they sat together without saying anything for a few minutes, and Minato was reluctant to break the silence first. His son was often a whirlwind of activity, and his silence probably meant there was something on the boy's mind he was struggling with.

A moment later Naruto spoke up, "Hey Dad. What were the Ninja Wars like?" Minato kept the confusion off his face and looked at him. "Horrible. It was a wasteful loss of lives on both sides, all because of something incredibly petty."

Naruto nodded, but didn't say anything for a moment. "But, how did you get through something like that?" Minato thought for a moment, "If you mean the danger-" Minato didn't get a chance to finish before Naruto shook his head and looked up at him.

"I mean seeing your friends get hurt or die. How'd you get through that part?" Understanding flooded through Minato. "You keep fighting so they don't get hurt again, or so others won't die." He gave Naruto a long look, "I won't lie to you. It never gets easier, and it shouldn't, otherwise things like what you did today would never happen. Everyone is proud of you for the way you faced down Gaara to save Hinata and Shikamaru, it's something a true Konoha ninja would do for any of his comrades, but more importantly, it's a sign that you're a good person." Naruto blushed at that and scratched his cheek, trying to hide his embarrassment from him.

"But if you had already become numb to the fact that friends die in battle, and believed that sometimes you just can't save everyone, do you think you would have fought until your last breath like you did?" He saw Naruto think for a moment before shaking his head. "It's not easy, but you have to remember how precious each person is to you, so you will always fight to your best ability to protect them. If you hadn't, not only you would have died, but Hinata and Shikamaru would have as well. Back in Konoha you would have been rewarded by the Hokage for such bravery on a mission, but things are a bit different I suppose. How would you like me to go get some Ramen for you before your mother wakes up to find out?"

He laughed when his son's eyes practically twinkled at the thought. For all the rough mannerisms he picked up from his mom, his love for ramen was one thing he definitely got from his father. He just hoped he had enough cash on him to afford to feed the both of them.

X X X

Naruto was halfway to the door when he heard his mom's voice from the other room. "Get back in that bed Naruto, before I tie you down to it." Cursing to himself, and doing it quietly enough so she couldn't hear it, he got back in to bed and leaned back to stare up at the ceiling.

He was just about to complain again how boring it was when the door to his room peaked open, and in came Hinata and Shikamaru. Both had been healed by Tsunade and seemed perfectly fine, though they both had their heads down and looked depressed. Grinning at them, he sat up. "Hey! You guys had me worried! Did Auntie patch you up well?" Both winced, and he guessed he said something wrong. "I mean, you guys were doing great. It's only natural to get a bit banged up against a super strong guy like that."

The next thing knew, Naruto had a sobbing Hinata on his chest and he could even see tears in Shikamaru's eyes as he glared at him. Looking between the two, he wasn't sure what was going on, but just put his arms around Hinata and tried to comfort her like he had seen his mother do with her when they were younger.

He saw his mom poke her head around a corner in to the room investigating the noises, but she just smiled and left, leaving him to fend for himself. He glared at her back for a second before Hinata's sniffles started to subside, and seeming to realize what she was doing, pull away with a dark crimson blush on her cheeks. She hung her head and he could just hear her whisper an apology for what she did, but he just laughed, "It's fine. But mind telling me why you did it?"

Hinata just kept her head down and didn't say anything, and even Shikamaru looked uncomfortable at the moment. Finally, in a voice so low he almost missed it, Hinata whispered, "Why did you do something so stupid as taking on Gaara? You should have run away."

That was twice in a as many days he had seen Hinata scold anyone, but this time it bothered him. "You're my friends! What was I supposed to do, leave you there to die?!" Both of them looked cowed before he took a moment to breathe. He had a habit to fly off the handle, but he didn't want to do that with his friends. "Look guys. We grew up together; we've done practically everything together since we learned how to walk. I love you both like family, there was no way I would let you, or anyone else for that matter, stay there to die just to save myself."

He wasn't sure what else to say from there, but knew that he had to find something to say, because it looked they still didn't believe him. He was saved for the moment, however, because now was the time his mother decided to come out, and she walked over to kneel in front of Hinata and Shikamaru. "Naruto is right. I know you two didn't mean it that way, but if he won't even stay to defend those he cares about, even if they don't want to see him hurt, what kind of person would he be?"

She reached out and pulled the two into a big hug. "I'm also very proud of you two for being more concerned for my son's safety than your own. I'm sure there will come a time for you two to return the favor and save him instead when he finds himself in over his head." At this she turned to smile at Naruto, who didn't like the idea that the two of them would get hurt for him, but he still didn't want to be a hypocrite. He would just have to make sure that nothing like that ever happened.

His mom stood up and gave Hinata and Shikamaru a moment to get themselves together before she clapped to get their attention. "All right you three. As much as I want Naruto here to stay in bed, it's only a matter of time before he finds a way to sneak out, so I want you three to go change into your best clothes. We're to be having dinner with the council in appreciation for how you three helped stopped Gaara. Because of you, it was possible for the first time to get at his seal since he had begun to lose control of the demon. Jiraiya and Minato have already begun working on a more permanent solution for it, so it will be a feast in your honor." She grinned wide at them, "Now you get to know what it is like to deal with politicians."

X X X

Shikamaru rubbed his temples again, trying to stave off the urge to strangle one of the busy body council members who kept approaching him. It would be far too much trouble to follow through on any of it supposed, but it didn't stop the urge to tell them exactly what he thought they could do with their bribes and plays at power.

He sighed and looked out a nearby window to see the sun making it's last appearance for the day before it slipped below the horizon, making him envious of it's ability to escape the annoyances of everyday life. Today had been a long and emotional day, and he didn't like being so wound up with different emotions; it left him feeling even more lethargic than normal, and all he wanted to do right now was sleep and forget what the past few days had been like. Maybe even a nice relaxing game of Go with Kakashi. Looking back out at the sun again, he sighed again before turning to face yet another politician who wanted to talk to him.

After close to another hour of nodding politely to various diplomats or ninjas, and even politely refusing a few requests to take him on as an apprentice ninja of the village, the banquet finally seemed to be dying down. He turned to try and attract the attention of Naruto and Hinata, only to find himself face to face with the same girl he had seen when he arrived in Suna.

She appeared to be glaring at him, but once he rose an eyebrow at her, she seemed to realize what she was doing and grimaced, putting on a slightly more polite face. Though, to tell the truth, he could still sense a bit of animosity coming from her, and wondered what he had ever done to deserve the girl's ire.

"You don't look that tough." Shikamaru just blinked at what she said. He wasn't quite sure what was going on, but he didn't want her to know she had confused him. "I don't know how my brother was beaten by a shrimp like you but...thanks. Next time you're going to have to fight me, though, you got that?" With that she left, still looking sour, as if the token of gratitude had left a bad taste in her mouth. He stared after her for a second, trying to understand what that had been about. She was kind of cute, but seemed way too bossy to ever become friends with. Shrugging it off, he found Naruto and the others and they went back to their rooms, glad to escape the limelight.

By the time they got back to the rooms, he had hoped they could just fall in to those comfortable beds, but the adults had kept them up and seemed to be looking between themselves, an uncomfortable look on all their faces. Shikamaru had sighed, expecting this from the time they had entered the city, "It's time to leave, isn't it?"

Jiraiya sighed, "I wish you would stop doing that and act like a kid for once." Shikamaru shrugged, he couldn't help that it had been the only obvious outcome. He knew that it would be too hard to stay safe if they weren't underground. Even though they could probably return to Suna on occasion, if they didn't leave before Konoha's forces started to patrol the outskirts of Wind Country, it would be much harder to get safely back into hiding.

Naruto whined next to him. "Do we have to? It's nice here, and they even offered to make us into real ninja here!" Shikamaru turned to look at him with a look that showed how dumb the question was. "So even with the help of 5 of the most powerful ninja alive to train us, we're still not ninja?" Naruto blushed and hid his face. "Of course we are, but, it's nice having a place to call home, ya know?"

Shikamaru didn't answer him. Despite the logic of their having to leave, he enjoyed being here too. He would go, but the job of explaining the reason to Naruto was best left to the adults.

Instead he turned to Hinata who was sitting quietly. "All right there, Hinata?" She looked up for a moment and gave him a smile. "I'm fine Shikamaru." He grunted and dropped the subject. He could tell Hinata liked Suna as well, but she was even more stubborn than Naruto when it came to stating the things she liked and didn't. It wasn't like they would never see the place again, if even one of those councilmen had a brain, they would be honor bound to return. He suspected the councilman they had met, Hiroshi, would be the one to approach Minato about Suna needing his protection. Their interference was sure to gain the attention of Orochimaru, and they would need Minato to return to protect them should they find themselves under attack.

So Shikamaru just yawned and tuned out the rest of the talk about their preparations to leave the very next day.

X X X 4 Years Later X X X

Orochimaru stared down at the businessman in front of him, and felt a smirk twitch at the side of his lips as he watched the man considered to be the lord of the black market, practically cowering in front of him. He listened as the man made his request for Orochimaru to send aid to ensure the failure of a bridge being built, stating that the team would only have to dispose of one old man. What he heard though, was a lie, and he sensed that the fool was holding back information from him, probably because of security measures said bridge builder had taken to ensure his longevity.

Normally he would have killed him outright for such an act, but the man could prove to be useful given his position, and he was in a very good mood that day. For that reason alone, he stayed his hand from ending the fool's life on the spot.

He waved his hand, signaling for the man to stop talking. The man looked angry for a moment, but seemed to hide is well for a civilian, and he looked down at him. "Your request will be granted. Though normally I would charge you more for an assassination mission, for such a simple target, I think something special can be arranged if you find yourself accommodating. The Anbu will show you out, and I will contact you in the next few days. Now leave."

The man bowed, and left with an Anbu who had appeared beside him. Looking down at his desk, he looked at the few sheets of paper on it. The rest was to be handled by those he deemed fit, as such a task was beneath him. These files, however, held information on the latest Genin, and those who were considered for the curse seal to be placed upon them. This would be a good mission to test their true skills on, and should he find them passing, he would bestow the mark upon them before they returned to the village. Of course, that would mean having to go to a small backwater town such as this one, but he found that it amusing watching the actions of those weaker than him at times. The thought that if he were to remove himself from the shadows he could easily destroy everyone there, a god in the shadows, pleased him immensely.

Of course, he had bigger worries at the moment, and most of them had to do with the damnable country of Suna and it's small alliance of other villages that opposed him behind the scenes. It was almost time to end their interference once and for all, and having three more ninjas blessed with a fraction of his power would make the work just that tiny bit easier.

Orochimaru grinned in a way he knew would make anyone's blood run cold to see. It had taken him a long time for his chakra coils to adjust to the additional power he wrested from the fox. The beast hated him too much to try and aid with helping recreate them, and he had to bide his time until his frail human body grew strong enough to handle all nine tails. Still, he had just unlocked the third tail of the demon's youki, and the land of waves was a perfect place to visit to celebrate. It would be nice to stretch his legs and test out the power he had gained against those who thought to challenge him.

X X X

Naruto grinned up at the ninjas standing guard to the gates of Suna, pleased to see them waves to him and his friends as they passed through the gates. They were just returning from a training session and it was good to know they had gotten guards who wouldn't make them go through the annoying procedure to get back inside this time.

He placed an arm around the shoulders of the other two, and leaned down on them slightly, a little bit taller than the two of them now, and grinned. "So, I hear Mom is gonna let us go on a mission for Suna finally as a way to get some experience. Dad had to take a lot of time to convince her, but it will be the first time we get to travel somewhere alone, I can't wait!" Shikamaru grunted, but Hinata just laughed a bit.

"Calm Down Naruto." Something had changed between him and Hinata over the past year, but he had never been able to place it. He had noticed the change with her about a year ago, and since then she had been a lot more open with him, but he never was able to get her to tell him why she was so much more relaxed and friendly. She was always nice before, but it was as if she had forgotten how to be shy when around him.

She just gave him another smile, "I hear there are a lot of interesting sites in Wave Country, and though it's going through a hard time right now, we probably will get to see some of them while we're there."

Naruto grinned and nodded, "Yeah, exactly! Just a few more days here in Suna then we're off to go help that old man with his bridge. I bet you he names it after us for being so cool as to help him, what do you think?"

Shikamaru just grunted, letting Naruto know just what he thought, and caused the blond to pout towards Hinata. She smiled at his antics as they headed back to the Kage's tower to spend a few days of rest and relaxation in Suna before their first big mission.

X X X

I hope you all enjoyed the chapter more than I enjoyed writing it. :p

Well, the gang seems to have a new semi permanent home. I did it obviously to give them allies, but I feel my characters are very shallow and empty right now. I am relying on the show for their character at the moment, without working on their own growth and progression in the story. The village gives them a place to grow. They lived a sheltered life where it is difficult to show much interaction with outside sources that help them develop. So I am going to take awhile before their mission, just a chapter or so, of them in Suna to help work on this. I'm sorry for those who want me to send them into danger right away, but I really need the work on helping characters grow, and I want them to grow for various reasons.

Now, about the mission in Wave. Am I a complete bastard? Oh yes, I am. However, I will say this much. They are not strong enough to win yet, should they fight the snake. Will they? Who knows, except for me. I won't say anything about what happens, but it should be interesting I hope. Also expect to see some other familiar faces crop up in the country of the Waves. It will be the beginning of some important stuff. :)

And for those of you who like your romance, well, they're still a bit young, but it's going to start appearing more as they are almost 13 at this point. So just hold on a bit longer for me, please. :p

Sleep well all, and stay safe!


	10. Home

Rekindle: Home

(Updated: 4/27/08 : Thanks to our awesome beta, Falconrok5)

Not dead yet. Though I swear I feel like it. Sorry about the wait, people. Notes at the bottom.

All rights to Kishimoto.

Rekindle: Home

Naruto stood panting in the center of the dojo built into the center of the Kaze Kage's tower. Keeping his hands up with trench knives at the ready, he waited for the next move, trying to anticipate where the next attack was going to come from before jumping in. Against an opponent like this, he couldn't afford to make even one mistake; otherwise he could end up losing the fight in an instant.

Not to mention he never was very humble in defeat.

Hearing the sound of movement from both sides, he decided to trust his instincts, and instead of going either forward or backward, he jumped straight up towards the ceiling, and grabbed on to it with chakra. He looked down just in time to see sand crash in from all sides where he had just been standing.

Smirking, Naruto watched that in the moment Gaara had been distracted by attacking, his clone had snuck up behind Gaara and placed a lightly glowing trench knife to the back of his neck, "Now you owe me a lunch at that ramen stall again, Gaara."

Gaara just raised an eyebrow, and sensing something behind him, the real Naruto turned just in time to see a sand clone form behind him with a short sword pointed down on him with all the authority of god. "I do believe they call this a tie, Uzumaki."

Naruto frowned, "You're no fun Gaara. You just don't want to have to pay for me again." Gaara just stared at him, "One does not spar with the intention to lose. And I promised to never pay for you again; it is a mistake I do not plan to repeat." Naruto pouted and jumped back down to the floor, turning to where Shikamaru and Hinata were watching. Turning away from Gaara slightly, he said in a stage whisper, "Can you believe him? He doesn't even want to pay for ramen for us anymore."

Shikamaru snorted, "His entire family fortune wouldn't be enough to pay for you when it comes to ramen." Naruto pouted, "You're supposed to be on my side, cloud boy!" Shikamaru just shrugged and walked off in the direction of the benches, probably in hope of lying down to relax. A slightly evil part of him was glad that before he even made it halfway to it, they could hear the footfalls of someone entering the training grounds closest to where he was heading, revealing Temari. She seemed to already know he was there because she had come out glowering, and though she usually was kind of grumpy, even Naruto knew not to get on her nerves when Shikamaru was around. He didn't know what Shikamaru had ever done to piss her off so much, but Naruto was sure glad he wasn't on the receiving end.

She stopped right in front of him, red faced and angry looking, whereas Shikamaru just looked bored. After yelling at him about something for a few seconds she began dragging him off to one of the other open aired arenas to spar. Shikamaru sent back a slightly pathetic look for help at him, but he grinned evilly and waved, enjoying the sight. Shikamaru glared at him just as they turned a corner and disappeared from sight.

"Temari really does want Shikamaru to do well." Naruto turned to give Hinata a look like she had grown a second head, "Really? I thought she wanted him dead, she's scary when it comes to him." Hinata just smiled at Naruto for a moment before turning and nodding towards Gaara. "Would you like to join us for lunch, Gaara?" The red haired boy just stayed silent for a moment and stared at them, finally nodding slightly. Hinata turned back to Naruto, "It is my treat today, then. But please, I do not have enough money for you to come home totally full, Naruto." Naruto scratched the back of his head and laughed at that, "Better some ramen than none. You're great Hinata."

The girl gave him a slightly shy smile and stared down for a moment, and Naruto was about to say more when Gaara came up behind him. "Are we leaving yet?" Naruto turned and grinned at him, "Sure. Just let me go grab a towel, unlike you, I have to move around in order avoid creating a stain on the floor." Sticking his tongue out at Gaara, he jogged to where he had left some of his things.

Using the towel to wipe off the sweat, he turned back to see Hinata explaining something to Gaara, who was nodding every now and then at her words. Naruto remembered how Gaara had appeared uncomfortable when he only wanted to be friendly. Over time he had become easier to interact with, though Gaara still had trouble communicating in anything but a stiff and formal way. Naruto had shrugged off his apologies for his behavior and instead just taken the boy on as a sparring partner and friend, bringing Gaara with him when they went out into the town to visit the other children.

Out of all of them, Hinata had the most luck with helping Gaara get along with others better, both growing more confident with time. He wasn't sure what had happened to cause her to change, but he enjoyed complimenting her to see if he could get a reaction out of her anymore. Sometimes he still got to see her blush, and though sometimes the few friends he had in Suna teased him about it, it was nice feeling.

Lately things had become slightly odd between him and Hinata, and when he had asked Shikamaru about it, the boy had just given him one of those looks that told him he was an idiot and hadn't even bothered to reply. He sometimes got nervous when she would watch him spar one of the adults, and, god forbid, when they sparred each other. She had only gotten stronger and now that he was always so confused around her he found it hard to fight her seriously… which was always a bad idea if he wanted to not get hurt. Instead he did what he did best, and played ignorant of it all.

Shrugging and fixing a grin to his face, he started to head back to the other two just in time to interrupt something, causing Hinata to turn away, and, almost as if she knew what he had been thinking, gave a deep crimson blush that he could just see past her bangs. Looking at Gaara with a confused look, the other boy just raised an eyebrow back at him, "I believe we should head out if we want to get food before we grow much older."

Naruto shook his head, "We still have to teach you how to not speak like you have a stick up your ass all the time. Now we just need to let the adults know and we can get going." They left for the more public part of the tower, and standing in the middle of a bunch of the Suna women, were Jiraiya and Kakashi, both entertaining them with various stories. Turning to look at Hinata, he just rolled his eyes before getting an idea.

Making a shadow clone, he sent it discreetly around to the other side of the room, and waited for when the two were just about to make their moves on their respective girls when the clone performed a henge and struck.

The only thing that crossed over the faces of Kakashi and Jiraiya was horror as they heard the banshee- like shriek from what they thought was Kushina, now yelling at them for their behavior. They backed up into a nearby wall, and tried to put as much distance between them, the women they had been talking to, and the enraged Kushina, as they could. The whole thing would have been perfect if the real Naruto hadn't been laughing so hard, causing them to turn around and notice them standing there. Understanding crossed their faces at the same time as they both smacked the clone, causing it to disappear.

Jiraiya glared at him when he saw how the women had scattered at the shouts. "What was that for, you little brat?!" Naruto glared back, "You were being a pervert and deserved it! Besides, how else were we supposed to get your attention when you go all creepy like that?"

Jiraiya waggled his eyebrows a bit, "I can think of a few ways." Naruto shuddered and didn't even have it in him to reply to that. Shaking the scary thoughts out of his head, he just ignored it. "We're going to go out and have ramen, so we'll be back later." Now Jiraiya frowned, "You shouldn't go alone. Go with Kakashi, he can stand watch over you three." Naruto frowned, "We're ninja now. We shouldn't have to be baby sat all the time you know."

Jiraiya just leveled a look at him that made him feel rather stupid, "And you are no ordinary ninja either. You have one of the most dangerous men in the world after you and everyone around your father, so you'll have to put up with it."

A slight tap on his shoulder made him look behind him to see Kakashi tapping his shoulder with the spine of a book. Though it was unmarked, he didn't doubt it was a copy of one of Jiraiya's novels. "You make me sad Naruto. I thought I was like an older brother, and now you don't want to be seen with me? It's truly enough to make me cry." He rolled his eyes at the display, "You know what I mean Kakashi. Besides," leaning over to whisper to the man as he leaned down, "Jiraiya is just trying to get rid of you so he can have all the fun."

Naruto saw Kakashi smile through his mask, "I know" he whispered back. "But he is right. Just entertain him long enough and soon you'll be all alone on your mission. So, you three just go ahead and play and I'll follow from a distance."

Shrugging it off and turning to the others, he started talk about their training as they began to walk out of the room, and just about to walk out when they heard a loud sneeze come from the Toad Sannin, followed by three more in quick succession. Naruto grinned, that would explain the smell of sneezing powder he picked up on Kakashi. At least the hermit wouldn't be able to get into any trouble now.

X X X

Shikamaru hated girls. Well, he didn't hate Hinata; she was pretty quiet for a girl, and well mannered, with a good mind besides. What he hated was a bossy girl, and even worse, a smart bossy girl, the exact kind who could usually pick up on what he was doing and yell at him for it.

He sighed as he dodged a blast of wind that had been aimed to hit him dead in the chest, and sighed again as he put his hands in his pockets. She knew the way he fought and had chosen the one training ground that offered no shade, and gave her the complete advantage. She said it was good training in case he was ever in a similar situation, but he didn't doubt she just enjoyed entertaining the thought of winning.

"Troublesome woman." She glared at him, "Stop whining. At least I won't kill you at the end of a fight, a far sight better than most other ninja you might face." Shikamaru just stared at her for a moment, then grunted. "So you say." Temari shot him her worst glare yet and he gulped a bit, expecting an attack, but was surprised when it didn't come. "Temari?"

She huffed, "You're just as bad as Kankuro. Someday you're going to find a ninja stronger than you and that will be the end of that." She seemed annoyed, and if he guessed the tone of her voice right, a bit scared. Shikamaru sighed yet again, he swore, if he ever understood Temari half as well as he did most things, he would die of shock.

"I'm out here, aren't I? I don't fancy the thought of dying, either." He gave her a long look before softening a bit and giving her a small smile, "I'll come back to Suna and everyone here, don't worry." Temari looked startled before hiding her face from his view, and all he heard was a muffled acceptance. Another moment passed in an awkward silence before she looked up with her cocky grin back on her face, "Though we will have to make sure of it. After all, you can't seem to dodge a tiny little breeze, let alone a REAL attack."

Shikamaru sighed. And people honestly wondered why he found girls so troublesome, he had somehow become close friends with a complete mad woman, he knew it. But for some reason, he just didn't use that intelligence of his to run away like he did from other girls. When it came to Temari he just kept coming back for more punishment, yet he couldn't guess why for the life of him.

Shikamaru was broken out of his thoughts when he saw her lift up her new large battle fan and he frowned, this was not the place to be devoting precious brain power to figuring it out. At least not if he wanted to avoid bodily injury. Pulling a kunai out, he prepared himself for a very troublesome sparring session.

X X X

Naruto slurped up some ramen as he pointed his chopsticks at Gaara and Kazuo, another boy from the village he sometimes sparred with and met up with when he was in the village. "And then I had to find someway to figure out the landing, and that part is HARD!" He was about to go into more detail about his training when he heard someone stop directly behind them in the ramen stand.

The three of them turned around, and were faced with a Chuunin glaring down at Gaara. "You're in my spot monster. I swear, I don't know why they let trash like you in." He placed a hand on Gaara to pull him off the chair when Naruto's hand clamped down on his wrist. "Get your hand off of Gaara!"

The ninja glared down at him, "You're as bad as him, hanging out with demon scum. Your father must be ashamed to have such a disgrace of a child." The ninja turned to ignore him and Naruto whipped him back around, intent on telling him just what he thought. Instead of just turning, he saw the ninja ball his fist in order to punch him, and Naruto raised a forearm up to guard the blow, his eyes practically glowing with rage at him.

Naruto was tired of this. It wasn't the first time they had been minding their own business when someone came to harass Gaara. Though many more people cared for him now that Shukaku was properly sealed, there were always idiots ready to pick a fight because they saw him as a monster. Gaara would just put up with the abuse with his normal indifference, but a few times, Naruto saw how much it hurt him to still be considered a monster, even after trying to make up for his past actions. It killed Naruto to see a friend have to suffer like that, and it made his rage grow to see one of those people here right now.

Everyone around them started to back off as Gaara' and Naruto's chakra spiked in response to their anger. Yet the scariest thing to most of them was how they weren't sure who was producing more of it, the boy with a demon sealed inside of him, or the boy who was supposedly human through and through. The ninja gulped, realizing just the amount of trouble he had gotten himself into when his eyes rolled up into the back of his head and he collapsed to the floor in a dead faint.  
Standing behind him was Hinata, a glowing finger extended to where she had poked the man in order to render him unconscious. Kneeling down, the blue color gave over to a pale green as she examined him and made sure she hadn't left permanent injury. Seeing she hadn't, she stood up and looked at the boys, "Did it happen again?" She whispered it to try and keep their privacy, but given the small space and the focus on them, the entire restaurant heard it and winced, and as if realizing they were eavesdropping, suddenly started making loud conversation as they went back to their food.  
Gaara stood up, "I believe I should be returning to the tower." Turning to leave, Naruto grabbed on to his wrist. "Sit down Gaara." Gaara glared at him, "Let go of me, Uzumaki."

Instead of letting him go, he glared right back. "I said sit down, god damn it!" Raising his voice so everyone could hear, "You did nothing wrong. It's blind idiots like that who should be kicked out of the places YOU visit. And I'll personally kick the ass of anyone who dares treat you as anything less than human." Lowering his voice, he continued, "You're my friend Gaara. I will always help my friends. So just sit down and enjoy yourself."

Gaara stared at him before sitting back down silently and turning back to his noodles. After an awkward silence, Gaara turned and gave him a small smile that caused Naruto to nearly fall out of his chair in surprise at seeing. "You are a very odd individual Uzumaki." Gaara turned back to his food, the smile still slightly on his face and not looking for all the world as if nothing had just happened. Kazuo laughed at that, "Odd doesn't begin to describe that boy there. He's off his rocker." Naruto growled at him, but Hinata interrupted and decided to change the subject, "How is Minami doing, Kazuo?" At this, the boy turned dark red and turned back to his food; whatever taunts had been in his head forgotten.

Naruto couldn't stay mad while watching that and started laughing at the boy, "You should see yourself!" Kazuo glared at him, "Yeah, well I know who likes you too, you idiot, want me to let the world know?" It took a moment for the words to sink into his head and he just stared at Kazuo, and pointed a finger at his own chest, "Me?"

Kazuo smirked, "Yeah. Though if you're so interested, maybe I won't tell you after all." Naruto shot to his feet, "Hey! You can't just do that!" Kazuo's smirk grew downright evil and Naruto had to fight down the urge to smack it off his face. "Come on, who is it?!"

He was about to go as far as to challenge the boy to a spar to find out when he felt Hinata's hand on his arm. Turning to look at her, she shook her head. "Naruto. Think of the girl in question, she must have a reason for not saying it, and it wouldn't be fair to her to have someone else tell you before she does." She gave him a weak smile and turned to Kazuo, "Right?" The two stared at each other for a moment, and then Kazuo hung his head a bit in apology. "Yeah, you're right. It's not my place to get involved."

Naruto looked between the two confused, and finally looked at Gaara, who gave him a slight shrug before going back to his ramen. He turned back to Hinata who this time gave him a bigger smile that actually reached her eyes, and he sighed, accepting whatever just happened. "I still wanna know." He whined.

Kazuo grinned at him, "Don't worry, I bet she'll tell you soon enough. And when she does, you're dooooomed." He stuck his tongue out at Naruto and he shook his fist back at him. He flinged a noodle at the boy, who glared back at him before breaking out in laughter.

Naruto loved being in Suna.

X X X

Naruto tried to resist fidgeting as the adults inspected their gear, making sure they were ready to head out. Naruto had to resist the urge to tell the adults to stop babying them and treat them like adults. He had learned long ago it was best just to put up with it so it would end sooner. Eventually Kushina finished inspecting their packs, "2 extra holsters of weapons, Naruto? You're not hoping to get into a fight, are you?"

He rolled his eyes, "No Mom. Just trying to be extra cautious, and besides, you know we can kick ass even if we do get attacked, so can we go? We were supposed to meet Gaara and the others at the gate to say good-bye ten minutes ago."

She glared down at him, though not too harshly, and finally breathed a deep sigh. "What did I do to get stuck with a child that was just as stubborn as I was at that age?" Naruto grinned up at her cheekily, "All the right things evidently." Nodding to his Dad and the others, he ran off before she could react, and grabbed onto the wrists of Hinata and Shikamaru, and headed for the gates. He took a moment to look back over his shoulder to see everyone still standing there, and had to fight down the sudden pit forming in his stomach. The adults were putting a lot on the line staying in Suna while waiting for their return, so it was up to them to do their best and make them proud. Turning back around, he took a deep breath and kept walking.

Making it to the gate, they saw Gaara and his siblings waiting with an old man. He was probably in his mid-fifties, but appeared in reasonable health for a man his age. Judging by the muscles, he wasn't unaccustomed to hard work for a civilian either. He also appeared nervous. He had been open with Suna about possible danger, but hadn't specified the full extent of it, possibly relying on the fact Suna was in a lean period and charging less for harder missions than other countries would.

Naruto's squad came up to them and Naruto grinned. "Sorry about the wait. Mom wouldn't just let well enough alone and made us late." Gaara didn't reply but Temari and Kankuro sneered jokingly, "Awww, was she making sure her baby was okay for his first big mission?"

The bridge builder jumped at that, and turned on them, cheeks flared with anger, "Wait a moment. They sent me a snot nosed brat who hasn't been on a mission before when it's that dangerous out there? Don't fool around with me, I want my money back!" He crossed his arms and glared at Gaara, who seemed to be recognized as the figure of authority, receiving a certain amount of respect for his father being the former Kazekage.

Gaara just stared up at him, causing the old bridge builder to fidget before long. At length, Gaara found what he wanted to say. "Suna highly recommends him, though he may not be formally trained." The old man shut his mouth and scratched his head, laughing nervously, "Is that so? Well then, I should apologize. I'm Tazuna, the greatest bridge builder alive, and you're here to help me finish a bridge back in wave country. So we better get moving, yeah?"

Naruto bounced on the balls of his feet, nodding at the statement and forgetting all about his annoyance for being underestimated. He was nervous, but ready to take on whatever came up. He had just taken a step forward when he felt a hand on his shoulder, and turned to see Gaara standing there, looking uncomfortable with Kankuro standing beside him. He looked between them, confused and waiting for Gaara to say something. Behind them, he saw Temari talking quietly with Shikamaru, who was nodding, before she gave him a brief hug and ran back into the city. He didn't have time to be in shock though as Gaara finally spoke up, "Stay safe, Naruto."

Naruto blinked a few times at hearing his name come from Gaara's mouth before nodding. They held gazes for a moment longer, and then Naruto turned around with the others and jogged to catch up with Tazuna, heading for the shortest route to Wave country.

X X X

Sorry about the wait. Had exams the past two weeks, and homework, and papers due. As well as my job. Basically my free time has had the living snot beaten out of it. This chapter wasn't originally planned either, so I had to sit down and think it up first. So I didn't get to it until just recently. I am trying to change my writing style a wee bit to be a bit better transitioned in small events. Such as how people interact, and the way I structure the short scenes in a chapter. If you see anything odd, please let me know.

I hopefully will have the next chapter out sooner, but I still have a lot of work to finish. Only bonus is I know what is going to happen (with one possibly significant exception) in the next few chapters. So it should get out sooner. Expect updates to pick up for the next few chapters, but slow down again as finals approach. I won't stop writing, but school comes first so give it time.

Again, all comments and criticisms, constructive of course, are welcome. I am doing this to improve my writing ability, so I appreciate the help.


	11. Introducing Team Nine

Yep. Another chapter. I figured I owed it to you all to post one sooner rather than later after giving you a long wait last time. I will be busy with even more exams very soon, so I want to progress the story while I can.

Now, on to the story.

All rights to those who earned them first.

**Rekindle: Introducting of Team Nine**

Shino watched the others out of the corner of his eyes from his side of the campsite. He would have offered to help them, but it was his turn on watch and he was intent on making sure he didn't miss anything in the surrounding forest. No one on his team was stupid, they all knew how much danger they were in. Though the part that worried them the most was that perhaps the danger wasn't from anything that might stumble on them in the night, but their own so called protector.

It was never a good thing when the Hokage himself decided to accompany a Genin team and their brand new Jounin Sensei on a mission.

Shino wasn't foolish enough to believe that Tenten, Kiba, or himself, could hope to detect any questionable activities from Orochimaru, but they would be even more foolish to not guard themselves against it all. It had been an unspoken agreement that they would take turns at watch, and be prepared to fight or flee at a moments notice.

Though he doubted they would make it very far with such a bizarre new Sensei assigned to them for this mission and the Hokage after them.

Shino sighed, making sure to hide the action within the neck of his trench coat. In a village where people regularly wound up dead, sometimes in their own home or on simple missions, it was a small comfort to have some way to hide his tension.

Returning his attention to his surroundings he noted that the others had finished preparing the camp, and was pleased to see they had by unspoken agreement placed the Hokage and their teachers tents away from their's and in plain sight of whoever was on watch. He didn't doubt the Hokage would notice their actions, but if they didn't bring attention to it, he saw no reason for them to object.

He didn't move when he saw the others move to sit with their backs against his on the rock he was sitting on, leading to them sitting in silence for a few minutes. Even though Konoha wasn't what one would call a very fun place to live, they were often a lot more lively than this, and it was odd to not have them bickering with each other, even if the silence was necessary. They hadn't discussed the fact that the Hokage had told them he would be accompanying them at all, but they all knew the rumors of what happened to poor Genin teams that had him visit. Only the elite managed to survive what was officially mentioned as enemy ninja attacks in several mission reports. It was said that other ninja villages had attacked due to the Hokage being relatively unguarded and only surrounded with a Genin team he felt he personally wanted to deem ready to be promoted or not.

What those who cared to pay attention would notice is that it was often only those teams with multiple children of bloodlines or exceedingly special talents that received such an "honor" of his presence. No one ever spoke of the possible connection, or if they did, they had been silenced before news reached his ears of it.

Tenten finally spoke up, "Do you want some company for awhile on your watch Shino?" Shino was just about to decline when he felt the other two stiffen against his back, and he was ready to turn and attack when he felt the overwhelming chakra of their Hokage. He had used bugs to try and keep guard over areas he wasn't currently watching, but when he extended his consciousness out to them he felt nothing, a sign that they had probably be destroyed. He felt a tendril of anger creep up in him, directed at the man who should have realized what those bugs were, but kept a tight leash on it. Now was not the place to forget logic and give into emotion.

"Shino should be all right alone Tenten. You should worry more about yourself, unless there is some sort of weakness of Shino's you are trying to cover for?" Shino felt Kiba tense up to yell something at the man, most likely in his defense. Even so, he moved just enough to jab his shoulder blade into his back, making him stop. It wouldn't do to antagonize a man who could kill them before they could even see the attack coming.

Tenten's voice was low, and Shino guessed she was bowing her head. "No Hokage. I was merely trying to be helpful, but you are correct." Shino was glad for her apparent humility, as Orochimaru's chakra lessened, making it easier to breath and think clearly. "Indeed," he drawled. "Unfortunately, I must leave your team for a time as something has come to my attention. You shall continue on with the mission and we will meet in Wave country." With that he left, taking his chakra with him and not even waiting for a response. He wasn't sure if it was just a ruse to keep them at ease as he observed from afar or the truth though, and didn't intend to let his guard down long enough to find out.

Turning to face the other two, they all shared a look that showed just how relieved they were with the Hokage gone. Turning back around, they just leaned back into one another again and kept watch until their Sensei came back and forced them to leave Shino alone in the night, his imagination conjuring images of snakes in the night.

X X X

Orochimaru sneered as he ran through the trees. He was well aware that the brats were suspicious of him, but he didn't care. It was good that they were not as foolish as some of the other idiot Genin's he had wasted his time on. They had blindly trusted him and rightly met their end when he had tried to place the curse seal on them. It made no difference to him if they were not blindly obedient to him now. Once he had them under the seal's influence such matter's would be inconsequential.

What he had told them was not a lie, however, though he enjoyed their momentary look of distrust when he had stated he was leaving. They had hid it well, but they practically smelled of their fear, and the sudden confused twist in their chakra was enough to tell him they hadn't believed him. An even better sign for their being useful pawns someday, even the girl who had no apparent bloodline. She had been highly recommended for her weapons abilities, and he could put her to use for as long as she survived the ordeals placed before her.

For now though, his goal was ahead of him, a few days hard run even for him. There had been rumors of a clan that had perished in a nearby country, and he had never forgotten his goal to learn every jutsu there was to learn. If he were lucky, this would prove to be a more fruitful trip than he had expected.

X X X

Hinata was turning the fish over the fire when she heard Naruto and Shikamaru walking back towards the camp from a nearby river where they had been washing up. Placing the last fish on it's side, she turned to face them. Shikamaru gave her a small nod before walking over to the fire and taking a seat on the log they had rolled over. Naruto gave her a big grin and walked over, "Are those the fish we caught earlier?" She nodded, "Yes. I salted the rest while Tazuna went into his tent to rest. I don't think he's used to the pace we set."

Naruto grinned, "Well, that shows him for underestimating us, then." Hinata just nodded a bit and kept quiet. She had been working hard at what she and Temari had spoken about, but she still found it hard to be so relaxed with Naruto.

She was shaken out of her thoughts before they went any further when Naruto poked her. "Umm, Hinata? I know I'm not a good chef and all, but is the fish supposed to smoke that much?" He pointed to the campfire where some of the fish had begun to burn, and making a small sound in surprise she rushed over to take them away from the flames just in time to save them from being ruined.

Bowing to the other two profusely they waved it off while taking their portions and began to eat, ignoring her stuttered apologies and digging in. Seeing that they weren't too upset, she smiled slightly to herself and began to eat as well. She was no where near as good as Minato at cooking, but she was glad they enjoyed it none the less.

They talked for a time about various things, training, Suna, and anything else that came to mind. Hinata was about to ask about Shikamaru's training with Temari when they all stopped what they were doing. It was a subtle change in their environment, but enough to set them on edge. The various sounds of nature had suddenly stopped, leaving them in an eerie unnatural silence. Nodding slightly to the other two, they began talking again while Hinata lowered her food and hung her head, using her bangs to hide her eyes as she activated the Byakugan.

She counted four men around their camp, all of whom were just sliding into place for whatever it was they had in mind. Two were across from them on the far side of the tents, and two directly behind it, possibly hoping to sneak in to attack Tazuna.

She looked up and gave the other two a big smile, and with a big nod in the direction of one of the men across from them. "We should decide on guard shifts for when we reach wave. Starting from noon, one of us should be on guard, and another one at 5 pm. From there I say we have 2 of us at 8. Don't you agree?" Shikamaru lifted an eyebrow, taking a moment to let his eyes drift to the mentioned positions. "Four Shifts? Sounds like a lot of needless work, then. Do you think it will be that difficult?" She shook her head, and exchanged a glance with both of them. They had worked out various ways to pass messages with Jiraiya, and by the looks on their faces she was confident they understood the message.

Naruto grinned at her, "I guess we should begin that right away, huh?" They both nodded, and with that Naruto disappeared in the direction of the tent while Hinata and Shikamaru went after the two single opponents hidden closest to them.

She could see the look of surprise on the faces of the men they were attacking. Despite their ability to get relatively close without causing much of a disturbance, they didn't appear to be particularly powerful. Probably bandits with limited ninja training who were either not allowed, or were unable, to go any further than the academy level. It still made them more dangerous than the average bandit, but not at a level that a real ninja would need to worry greatly.

Putting on a burst of speed she appeared in front of the man she had been chasing. He was large and muscular, and someone who probably did body building for sport, rather than building muscles through useful exercises. He stopped and glared at her, "So they stick me with the little mouse of a girl huh? I can take you." He cracked his knuckles and kept his body squared, trying to look intimidating as she slid a foot back to get into a better stand, arms up protecting her body and face, the chakra gathered just below her skin.

The man waited a moment and seeing she wouldnt react, snarled. Angry that his threats didn't work, he made a mistake with the first attack, stepping through with a punch aimed to take her head from her shoulders. With moves like that, she wasn't surprised that he hadn't made it as a ninja. Ducking her head under the punch and weaving to the side, she used the palm of her outside hand to push his attack off the line, adding enough chakra to it to render the arm useless for hours, and brought her other hand up to slap him lightly in the stomach with chakra pooled in her palm. She pushed back just in time to see the look of surprise on his face as he coughed up blood and collapsed.

Kneeling by him, she made sure none of the wounds were fatal before tying him up to a nearby tree and using her Byakugan. She saw the boys already tying up their opponents as well, and both appeared unharmed. Sighing in relief, she headed back to camp just in time to see an angry Naruto and Tazuna yelling at each other.

Tazuna was red faced and glaring down at Naruto. "So what?! I hired you just in case something like this happened. What, were you scared by your first real opponent little boy?"

Naruto stomped his foot and returned the glare in full, "I've faced children who are a shit load scarier than those wannabe ninja old man! What I want to know is why Gatou, who even _I_ know is someone not to cross, is after you!"

Shikamaru nodded and stepped forward, "I could ask the same thing. I'm guessing you questioned one of them too?" Naruto nodded and Shikamaru turned to Hinata who hung her head and shook her head, "The fight was over too quickly." Shikamaru shrugged, "No difference. So do you mind explaining why one of the most notorious leaders of the black market is after your life?"

Tazuna looked down and Hinata could see his jaw tighten in anger or frustration. Stepping forward, she placed a hand on his forearm. "We are not saying we won't protect you, but we have to know what it is we are up against."

Tazuna's demeanor relaxed, and he slumped down against a nearby tree, looking his age for the first time, and incredibly tired. "Wave has never been a very large or rich country, and since you seem to know of Gatou, you can guess what that might mean to him. We were far too easy to control. A few promises of help here, a sponsored project there, and he had us wrapped around his little finger. Now that we've learned what he's really like, we have to find someway to support ourselves so we can be rid of his influence." He looked up and just stared at them for a moment. "I won't doubt your abilities, but you're too young to know what it is like to see everything you've ever worked for crash down around you. Your family constantly in danger, friends disappearing day in and day out. Hopefully you'll never know, but I do, and that is why I have to finish that bridge. If I can just open up a new trade route, we have a chance of ending this whole ordeal, and maybe we can stop Gatou from bleeding us dry."

He sighed, "But I knew Gatou wouldn't let me, so that's why I came to Suna. I had thought of going to Konoha for it's strength and being closer, but it would do us no good to shake hands with another devil to be rid of Gatou. So I came to Suna and tried to make it sound less serious than it was, since we can't afford anything more expensive."

They looked at each other and Shikamaru sighed. "How troublesome." He turned to face Naruto and Hinata, "I know what you are thinking Naruto. You would help Orochimaru himself if he told you he was in trouble. What about you Hinata?"

Hinata looked at Naruto for a second, regretting what she was about to say. "I think we should contact everyone back at Suna and let them know." She saw Naruto hang his head at that. He had been really looking forward to showing how much they've grown and were happy when they were allowed to do a special favor to Suna and perform a mission for them. She didn't like seeing him so disappointed, but it was the best choice they had.

Shikamaru shook his head. "If we do that, they'll cancel the mission. It may be troublesome, and everything I hate to do, but I don't fancy the idea of letting Tazuna here die because we wouldn't help him. I say we just make sure to use our emergency precautions in the worst case scenario." Naruto perked up and Hinata felt her stomach sink. She should have thought of that, and not made Naruto think she was against them going onward.

Naruto ran over to find out more from Tazuna as Shikamaru came over and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry. He doesn't hold it against you. He probably understands better than any of us how much we risk doing this." Hinata nodded, and Shikamaru walked off to go get comfortable for the first watch of the night.

X X X

A few days later found Naruto and the others in front of a comfortable looking home, hand built and obviously well made. Tazuna was explaining to them how many hours he had put into building it for his family, but to Naruto, it was just another house, and his attention was elsewhere. Seeing that they were about to enter the house, he made a quick decision.

Taking off his pack, he threw it at Shikamaru, who caught it and looked up in time to see Naruto already running off. "NARUTO! Where are you going?!" Naruto turned around and yelled back, "Learning the lay of the land and all that. You guys protect the old man, I'll be back in a bit!" He ran off before Shikamaru could find something to yell back at him or a way to stop him. He knew it wasn't the brightest thing to do, but they WERE supposed to recon wherever they went, so he didn't worry about it for long. Instead he got onto the road heading into town and cut down on his run to a jog. It would still appear fast for a civilian, but it wouldn't bring to mind ninja when someone saw him.

He slowed down when he got into town, and eventually came to a halt when he got to what he thought was the town's center, surprised at how few people were around. Even the businesses that one would expect to be open in the smallest towns were shut up tight. If it weren't for the few people dragging their feet throughout the town, he would have guessed he were in a ghost town.

Walking around a bit further, he found a market that appeared open, and looking at the starved figures and sunken faces of the people, bought as much food as he could to take back with him. He was just walking away with his bags past a small playground when a couple children came up to him. They too were starved looking and scarily quiet for children. They looked up at him with a pitiful look that he couldn't resist, and taking out two loaves of bread and some hard cheese he had bought, broke it up to hand out to the kids. He was just about to ask them some questions when he felt people turn the corner nearby and head towards them.

Shifting the bags so he could drop them and defend himself quickly, he turned to see three kids all around his age coming over. Judging by their looks, he knew they weren't from Wave either, and they appeared a bit nervous, though if they were they were hiding it well. Deciding to have a bit more faith first, he smiled at them. The girl in buns gave him a smile back, where as the boy with a dog on his head simply smirked and the boy in the trench coat inclined his head.

The girl walked past him and knelt by the kids, reaching into her back pocket and pulling out a few candy bars which she passed out to the kids. "Make sure to eat those AFTER dinner, okay?" For once the kids gave smiles that seemed more natural on a child's face and they nodded. The boy with the dog on his head took it off and put it on the ground close to the children, who all rushed over to play with it.

Stepping back, he stood next to the newcomers, and grinned at them. "Thanks. I was beginning to wonder what it would take to get them to cheer up a bit." He extended a hand out towards the girl that smiled at him before, "Name's Naruto."

She took his hand and shaked, "Tenten. The quiet guy is Shino and our little puppy here is Kiba. The dog's name is Akamaru." The boy named Kiba puffed out his cheeks in anger, "Oy! I told you to stop calling me that!" She nodded, "All right All right, the annoying puppy here is Kiba." The boy stepped up into her face and after a short yelling session in which he had earned himself multiple bruises on the head, she turned back to Naruto, who had put some room between him and the carnage.

The girl named TenTen gave him a smile, and he laughed nervously, whispering to the guy in the trench coat next to him. "They always like that?" The boy nodded, and Naruto gulped a bit.

Tenten just waved it off, "Don't worry. He deserves it. Anyways, judging by your looks, you're not from around here, what brings you to wave? It doesn't seem like the hotbed of tourism, ya know."

Naruto forced a scowl onto his face, which wasn't hard surrounded by the poverty and sad faces all around them. "Not by choice. Some new guy took over my families old town, and he had something against my old man, so we had to leave. We're just wandering for the moment, and sort of winded up here." Naruto knew he wasn't a very good liar, he tended to speak his mind too much, but he knew the backstory well enough, and he kept the story true, just misleading, so it would mean less chance of making a major slip up. "What about you three? I could say the same thing, you stick out as much as I must."

The boy in the trench coat spoke, making Naruto jump. "We're apprenticed to an architect. He is taking us around the countryside and showing us various things. We heard of the construction and came to witness the bridge being built first hand."

Naruto smiled, now there was something he knew about. "You mean old man Tazuna's bridge?" The boy who had been beaten up before, groaned and rubbed his head, getting shakily to his feet. "If you're new here too, how do you know him? He's been out of town for a few days."

Naruto tried to hide the sudden surge of panic he felt. He had already messed up the lie by showing he knew someone here. He wanted to groan, he hated all this secrecy. Instead he just said the first thing that came to mind. "Friend of my dad from a long time ago. I guess that's why we came this way, me and two others who came with us are staying with him while my parents look into where to go next."

The three looked at each other for a moment, before Tenten gave him another sweet smile that didn't quite reach her eyes this time. "Do you think you could introduce us to him? We were hoping to drop by later and formally get to know him, but if you already do, it's that much easier." Naruto looked between the three of them for a second, and couldn't see a reason to refuse. He didn't want to be downright rude and make them suspicious of him, but something didn't seem to be adding up here, but seeing as he couldn't place it, he just nodded. "Sure. But um first, we might want to finish up here."

The girl blinked at him for a second as he pointed behind her at the group of children, surrounded by candy wrappers and looking up at her with big eyes begging for more. Tenten groaned as the boy named Kiba snickered, and Naruto just looked between them for a moment, confused why he felt so anxious about the situation. He would be careful, but for now he would just go with the flow of things. For all he knew, they really were apprentice architects and would be the first people in days who would find one of Tazuna's stories interesting.

X X X

For some reason I don't feel pleased with this chapter, even after proof reading it. But given how little time I have in the upcoming week, I wanted to get it out there. I dislike posting things without stricter quality checks, but this is a bigger issue than some proofreading will fix. I feel like my scenes are still way too short. In the sense that I introduce the scene, things happen at break neck speed, then it moves on to a new scene. Ah well, I will try to find a nice medium as I keep going.

As for the story, this is the reason I asked about pairings. Since I got a vote for this pairing,this is the one featured. I actually really like the team dynamic for this group. Tenten is a bit older and seems perfectly capable of whipping Kiba into shape. And Shino...well, he will just be Shino. He fits in in most groups well in my mind.

As for what I am doing, if you think I am a mean horrible bastard to Naruto and the crew, well, you haven't seen anything yet. It will only get worse. So keep reading to find out when you bring over unwilling assassins for tea at the house of their victim. :)


	12. More than a Tool

Yay, another chapter complete. I have been incredibly busy with schoolwork this week, and will be next week as well. As such I sort of threw this together in bits and pieces over the week. Sorry if it comes a bit late as well, I could have finished it earlier today, but after studying, I played some NES. Yes, the original NES. It's good to go back to our roots.

Anyways, on to the chapter. Notes at the end, and of course, all rights to those who earned them first.

Rekindle: More than a Tool

Tenten gave Naruto another big smile, her stomach dropping a bit when she saw that the one he returned didn't reach his eyes. She politely answered some question he asked without really thinking about it. He appeared sunny and cheerful on the exterior, but was painfully obvious in the fact that he was suspicious of them.

Then again she shouldn't be too surprised, her smile probably looked every bit as fake as it was. There was something off about the blond boy, though, and she just couldn't shake the feeling and act normally.

Though he didn't give her any concrete reason to be suspicious, something made her keep a hand close to her weapon's pouch. His story made sense, and he hadn't made any lies she could obviously detect. The only thing to make any of them question him was the reason he gave for knowing Tazuna, so she should have trusted him more than she did.

But by the way he carried himself, she was afraid to even get too close to him. He didn't give off a dangerous feeling, but even the way he carried himself when he tried to appear relaxed was far too guarded, as if he were ready for them to try and attack him at any moment. She could spot some holes in his guard, rarely, which made it obviously apparent he had received trained beyond reason for a simple outcast from a village that didn't have ties to a ninja community.

The boy turned around, "Just warning you, from what I've seen, Tazuna will talk your butts off if you show any interest in his bridge. Don't say I didn't warn you." Shino nodded, "It has been observed." Naruto shrugged and turned back around, letting Tenten look at the others. They all shared a look and nodded, they had picked up on the signs she had. They were playing a dangerous game right now. They wouldn't prescribe to Orochimaru's teachings and kill the boy if they could help it, not to mention the idea was almost repulsive. She hadn't known him more than an hour, but he had been helping those children, and she liked to think that showed he was a good person.

She wished she could afford to be like that more often herself. She hated what Konoha had turned into, but she was stuck in the life of a ninja simply by the fact she had shown too much promise at a young age. Besides, even if the boy didn't seem to be nice, it was against her nature to do anything morally questionable if she wasn't being forced to, damned be the consequences.

Tenten shook her head slightly at the signal Kiba gave, one designed to ask if they should attack the blond. She turned around just in time to keep herself from running into Naruto, who had stopped and was scratching the top of his head. He turned around and looked at them sheepishly, scratching the top of his head. "Hehehehe. I..umm, got kind of lost." Tenten felt a pounding start in her temple, something about the blond was endearing yes, but she got the feeling after awhile she would want to beat him over the head.

"I can figure it out! Give me a second!" He ran up to the top of a nearby hill, and went about scanning the horizon, giving her the perfect opportunity to whisper to the others. "What do you guys think of him."

Surprisingly, it was Shino who spoke first. "Dangerous. The way he speaks and acts implies impulsive behavioral patterns, though he carries himself in a manner resembling Anbu who suspect treachery at every corner." Tenten blinked at the length description from the normally silent bug user, but nodded in agreement. Kiba nodded as well, "He seems like an idiot, but Akamaru here is saying that of the Chakra he can actually sense, he's got more than any one of us alone. That isn't normal for an everyday kid."

Tenten nodded, "Ninja?" Shino nodded, "That is the most likely conclusion." She sighed, "Well, let's be sure before we do anything. Be prepared to fight if anything happens." She straightened up, and saw Naruto's blond hair just poking over the hills crest before he came running back. "I found it! I knew I was going the right way." He grinned at them and started leading again. She turned to Shino, who nodded that it was still the same boy as the bug he had placed on him was still there.

Putting on a big smile, she started to get Naruto to talk.

X X X

The clone ran as hard as he could the last few yards to Tazuna's house, wanting to get out of plain sight. He threw open the door and shut it roughly behind him, only to be greeted with a distinctly feminine shreek. Out of reflex, and no small part pure luck, he turned in time to notice the frying pan flying towards his head. He ducked and winced as it left a dent in the door and landed on the floor next to him. If he had been hit by that, he would have disappeared before he could relay his information. Putting his hands up in a placating gesture, he faced the woman in front of him,

"Stop! I'm with the ninjas Tazuna brought he, I just went out to scout the town. Well, the real me did, I'm just a clone, so you can't hurt me or I might disappear." Seeing the confused look on her face, he groaned and took a moment to take a deep breath before trying again, "You gotta tell me where the others are and fast."

She looked at him confused for a second, "Come ON," he whined, "if you don't, you're going to have ninjas who really are out to get you on your doorstep in a few minutes." That got her attention. She grabbed his wrist before running up the stairs and taking him up the stairs into a room where Tazuna and the others were sitting.

Shikamaru looked up from where he was and gave him a small glare, "So glad you decided to join us finally." He shook his head, "No time for that Shikamaru. I know Naruto did something stupid, trust me." Hinata's eyes widened at the way the clone spoke. "You're a Shadow clone? Did something happen to Naruto-kun?"

Naruto summed up his experiences at the park and how he had been forced to lead a group of what he guessed to be ninjas back here. Shikamaru let out a small curse before closing his eyes to think. A moment later he opened his eyes, shaking his head. "Too late to redirect them. And aside from going to scout before we were prepared, you did the best you could given the circumstances."

Shikamaru turned to Tazuna, "We have to evacuate everyone, so go get your grandson." He turned back to face Naruto. "I need you to leave only shadow clones, and don't forget there is also a child here you haven't met. They shouldn't know what he looks like, but just in case," Shikamaru handed him a picture. "Do you think Naruto can escape when they find out?"

The clone looked at the picture then nodded, "He hasn't perfected the jutsu yet, not enough to fight with it, but he can at least use it to get away if you hold on to a landing point for him." Shikamaru nodded and took out a specially marked kunai, "We'll take care of things on our end, you make more clones to replace us and then make sure you get that information back to Naruto."

The clone nodded, making 5 more clones and having them henge, then with a salute, disappeared in a puff of smoke.

X X X

The real Naruto only widened his eyes a bit as the memories of his clone flooded into his head. He hid the action a bit by yawning and then grinning at Kiba, who just scowled back at him.

He felt better knowing everyone was prepared, and continued to grin at the boy, not showing any signs of noticing his dark mood. "Are you an idiot or something?"

Naruto growled at him, "You know, I could ask the same thing dog breath." Kiba took a step towards him, but Shino placed a hand on his shoulder, stopping the argument. Looking between them, he just gave them a shrug and turned around. He didn't want to start a fight at the moment, he had to keep them busy for awhile longer, but the most natural way to act in his mind was to annoy the heck out of them, and as a bonus it helped calm his nerves.

They passed over the final hill, and Naruto was glad Tazuna lived outside the village proper, as it had bought them some time. "We made it! Welcome to old man Tazuna's house. He's probably inside." He chuckled as he gave a mock bow and swept his arm out towards the small house.

It was probably a good thing he decided to be silly as it helped him hide his wince when he felt their Chakra spike and churn wildly for a moment. It seemed he wasn't the only person who was nervous about what was to come, and he pretended to not notice as they quickly regained control of themselves. It only helped confirm his fears, but at least they weren't experienced in the art of assassinations, and he wasn't above being grateful for small blessings.

They marched down to the door and Naruto knocked twice before poking his head in. "It's me, Naruto. Anyone there?" A clone appeared around the corner, henged as the woman who had attacked the earlier clone. "There you are, we were beginning to wonder if you would ever get back! And you brought friends, who are these darlings?!"

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the horrible act he was watching, and didn't want to think about what it said for his own acting skills. The three bowed to the clone, who he found out was named Tsunami, and walked into the living room, where the rest of the clones were sitting around, with the one henged to looked like Tazuna in a chair in a corner.

He had just enough time to see the three give an almost imperceptible nod to one another before the rest happened in a flash. Suddenly the three were surrounding Tazuna, kunai pulled out and drawn on him. Tenten turned and inclined her head towards Naruto, "I'm really sorry about this, but if not us, then it will be our sensei or worse, and believe it or not we don't want to do this. The best we can offer him is a quick death instead."

Naruto felt anger bubble up in him. He had seen it coming, and prepared for it, but he still didn't like it. "So what? You three think it's okay to justify trying to kill an old man who's only goal is to help his country escape a madman?" Tenten winced, though she didn't drop her weapon. In fact, all three of their hands were shaking from nerves, a sign they probably were telling the truth at least about not wanting to do it.

Shino spoke up next, his voice quiet. "Your stance speaks of ninja training, and judging the similar stances displayed by your associates" at this he nodded to the clones who were henged to look like Shikamaru and Hinata, "they've been trained to fight as well. You should understand that we are merely following our orders."

The clone henged as Shikamaru snorted, "To hell with orders. I'm a person before I am some tool, made to do things that I know are wrong." Tenten turned to him and bit her lip, "Be that as it may, I'm sorry." With that, she extended her hand forward, pushing the kunai into Tazuna's neck, a means to ensure a quick and relatively painless death. She had her eyes closed, so she only opened her eyes when she heard her teammates gasp, and opened them to see a puff of smoke where the old man had been.

Taking a step back, the remaining clones put themselves between him and the now confused shinobi in front of him as he began to focus his Chakra. All he needed was a few seconds, and he could escape. One of the clones spoke up, "Do you feel like a big bad ninja now? You could have just killed an old defenseless man, congratulations." The girl winced and hung her head, shoulders shaking slightly. Seeing her like that, Naruto decided to back off, but the boy named Kiba didn't. "Do you think we LIKE being forced to do these things? Do you even know what it's like to live every day knowing you could be murdered for trying to do the right thing god damn it?! That you could lose your whole FAMILY because you did the right thing?! Well you smug bastard?!"

Naruto regarded him for a moment, and the boy must have seen something of his emotions running over his face, because he started to look distinctly uncomfortable, even after tearing into him. "More than you might think. I won't pretend to know what kind of troubles you've gone through, but nothing gives you the right to deny others their freedom too. And if you try to, I'm going to have to stop you." At that, the three slid back into fighting stances, but Naruto was already finished with his jutsu. He had finally found the landing point.

He was no where near the level of his father with the jutsu, but he considered the fact that he could do the Hiraishin at all something to be proud of. It was something so incredibly simple in concept, that he was surprised no one had thought of it before. The creation of the seal was the really challenging part, it took the right seals and Chakra usage to make it, as well as a good chunk of time. But when it was complete, it could be reproduced with shadow clones and one could still use the clone as a proper landing point. Not to mention being as being nearly as fast as a thought when you learned how to find your landing point quickly enough.

All one had to do was give the Chakra some sort of beacon, and if you had enough Chakra for the distance you wanted to go, you could pour a lot of Chakra into the beacon, and you would be yanked to it's position. His dad had said he found it out when he had accidentally pumped too much Chakra into a summoning once. Since he tended to overshoot the needed amount of Chakra then pull it back into his body like he had taught Naruto, when he had overshot the amount needed, the seal had sucked even more out of him, being pulled directly out of his body to the scroll. The mistake had led to weeks of sleepless nights until he made the seal that would yank the body to it's location, and since it was based off a summoning, it was an instantaneous move.

Naruto grinned at the three figures starting to circle around him. He wasn't as good as his father, but given enough time he could find the needed beacon and get there. Just as they jumped in to attack, he disappeared in the blink of an eye, and suddenly appeared elsewhere, a few feet above the ground. After a quick fall, he looked up to see the faces of his teammates and Tazuna's family staring down at him.

He grinned up at them. "Heya."

X X X

Shino frowned at the sudden disappearance of the blond boy. Logically, he should be concerned that a potential enemy had escaped, but the frown was that of confusion, rather than an emotional response to a potential enemy escaping. He was sure the blond could not have moved as quickly as the female bug he had planted on the boy said he had moved in that span of time. To do so was something he doubted even the Hokage himself could have managed.

What was an even further deviation from what one would find logical was that he was glad everything had gone as it had. Tenten wiped at some tears in her eyes, and Kiba walked over to pat her on the back, giving her a small amount of encouragement. He could tell by their actions they were as tense as he was. None of them had wanted to do this mission, but they knew if they failed the consequences would be far worse.

Shino sighed. "He is in the forest to the south, about a mile away." Kiba turned on him, "No way! He couldn't have been that fast." Shino shrugged, "That matters not, that is his current location."

Kiba let out an angry sigh and ran a hand through his hair, "So? What now?" Shino was about to reply when a voice came from behind them. "We make chase, of course." Shino froze. He hadn't sensed their Sensei arriving, and as such, didn't know how much he had overheard, or if he had been there the entire time and was observing them. Turning around, he nodded, more as a way to calm his nerves. "I can lead us to his location." The Jounin ignored him and walked over to Tenten, who was trying to calm herself, the slight puffiness in her eyes standing out on her face as she tried to resist crying over what she had been forced to do.

Before either he or Kiba had a chance, the Jounin grabbed the front of her shirt and lifted her up into the air, and after a brief moment in which he glared at her, he backhanded her across the cheek and let her fall to the floor. "Pathetic."

Kiba launched himself at the new teacher before Shino could stop him, a roar on his lips. "You BASTARD!" Akamaru appeared to be about to lunge as well when the Jounin turned around and swatted Kiba away, causing him to collide with Akamaru, before skidding into a wall. He turned to face Shino, seeming to expect another attack, and gave him a cool stare waiting to see if anything would happen.

Shino wanted to have his bugs drain the man of every last bit of his Chakra, even down to that which kept him alive, but he knew it would be a worthless endeavor. Instead he tried to keep the man in front of him from getting even angrier at them by ignoring his desire to seek revenge for the unwarranted injuries to his teammates. After a moment their Sensei turned around and faced the two Genin on the floor. "You all have two minutes to meet me outside to make chase. If this ever happens again, you will wish that I had finished it here." With that he disappeared in a swirl of leaves, and with that Shino went over to check on Kiba's injuries. Tenten was already bringing herself to her knees, a nasty bruise forming on her cheek where she had been hit, whereas the dog user appeared to have suffered worse in the incident.

The damage was extensive enough that Kiba appeared to be having trouble breathing, and though he lacked medical training, he suspected he had received a cracked rib. Reaching into his first aid kit, he pulled out a seal and let it unfurl, pouring Chakra into it to activate it. Once it had finished charging, he lifted Kiba's shirt and placed it where he suspected the cracked bone to be, and saw Kiba instantly relax as the seal and Chakra began to work on the injury. It wouldn't cure the wound instantly, but it would deaden the pain and help it to heal faster.

Next he examined Akamaru, and was glad to see the puppy had little more than a scratch on it's forepaw, which he cleaned off before standing up, and helped Kiba to his feet. "That was foolish." He said it simply, not condoning the boy, just commenting. It would be hypocritical to berate him when he had nearly done the same thing in defense of their teammate.

Kiba winced, "Yeah, well...he deserved it." Shino looked at him for a moment, "Be that as it may, we must remain careful around that man. He will not hesitate to kill us for our mistakes."

Tenten walked over, her head down and avoided looking them in the eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't expect Mizuki-sensei to react like that, I should have been more in control of myself." Even though she had her head down, Shino suspected she forcing herself to not repeat the mistake that had gotten them into this by appearing weak in the eyes of their sensei by crying.

Shino placed a hand on her shoulder. "Do not worry about it. What you did was the right thing. But for now, I believe the most logical option is to meet Mizuki now. If we do not arrive within the deadline, it will not only be a worse punishment for us, but I fear those we chase will experience undue pain by his hand."

The others nodded and walked out to meet their Sensei, and none of them talked about what exactly they were about to be doing.

X X X

Hinata jumped down from the tree she had been hiding in. "The three ninja from before are heading this way, and another older ninja seems to be with them, and judging by they way they position themselves around him, he seems to be their teacher."

Shikamaru sighed. "All I really wanted was a nice easy mission, what did I ever do to deserve this?"

Naruto looked at him, "You say something?" He shrugged. "Nothing. Now, judging by the fact they were able to track you even though you used the Hiraishin, I'm guessing they found a way to track you directly. We've already hidden Tazuna and his family, but we need to lead them away. It won't do us any good if they can keep finding us. So strip, and head to the stream, then change into new clothing, leave the old ones here. Be back here in two minutes at the most."

Naruto nodded and ran off to the river. He turned to Hinata, "It will be up to you to keep us just ahead of them. We have to assume they're faster than us, so we need to use our ability to view them from a distance to make the most of our lead. If we just hide they may find Tazuna and his family before we can get them far enough away that they won't be injured. We need to lead them further away before we can try to escape or hide. You're in charge of telling us where to go in order to do so." Hinata looked a bit green around the gills at the thought of being in charge, but to her credit, just nodded that she understood.

Shikamaru sighed again, he supposed he would have to thank that Temari for the extra training when he got back, but he didn't relish knowing she was going to lord it over him. The situation was looking grim, and if they were from the village he guessed they came from, then it was going to be bad if they were facing a Jounin Sensei as well.

Shikamaru frowned and crossed his arms, and was pleased to see Naruto was back in fresh clothing after only a minute and a half, even if he was still a bit damp. He nodded to them, and Hinata jumped into the trees, signaling the path they should take.

Giving one last look over his shoulder, Shikamaru felt the combined Chakra of the team from Konoha gaining on them. Shaking his head, he jumped into the trees and followed the others deeper into the woods.

X X X

Naruto dodged a kunai aimed to impale the back of his skull, and tried not to curse. They had been successfully staying ahead of the other ninjas, but when they had tried to hide themselves they soon discovered the dog wasn't just for show. Naruto had been hiding in some bushes when the stupid thing had led them right to him, even when they had been downwind and had a few minute headstart.

They were only a few yards away from him by the time he had a chance to try and escape without being spotted immediately. His escape hadn't been perfect, though, and it still had alerted them, and now he and the others were running as hard as they could trying to escape even as that crazy Jounin guy hurled kunai after kunai at them. The three from earlier just followed closely behind him, but luckily weren't adding to the hail of weapons, though out of kindness towards them or not wishing to anger that madman of a teachers of theirs, he wasn't sure.

The only problem was the Jounin on their team was gaining even as he was sending out projectiles that forced them to take up precious seconds to dodge. The three of them were excellently trained and in amazing shape for their age, but against an opponent who was much older, and a Jounin, they were at a distinct disadvantage.

Shikamaru signaled for them to stop, his face grim. It seemed he had come to the same conclusion. They didn't even say anything to each other as they moved closer to one another, falling into battle stances. If they couldn't run against an opponent who was not only faster, but skilled enough at fighting from a distance to keep them from escaping, their only choice was to fight long enough to find a way to escape.

A few seconds after they had stopped running, the squad of ninja appeared in the clearing with them. The Sensei had a sadistic little smirk on his face, and the Genin stood behind him, grim faced and silent.

"So, what do we have here? Three little wanna be ninjas? I don't think I'll even get the chance to break a sweat before killing garbage like you three. The fact that my genin here couldn't take you out by themselves when they had you split up and alone makes me think I'll have to punish them appropriately later as well. Hopefully that may prove more interesting than fighting three little weaklings." He laughed at his own sick humor even as his genin cringed, and Naruto noticed the bruises on Tenten's face, and the way Kiba favored his ribs. Something that hadn't been there before he left. He could only guess that bastard had given it to them for not killing him when they had a better chance of it.

No matter what they had to do, it was technically part of a Ninja's line of work to do assassinations, and they had seemed genuinely saddened by it. Naruto couldn't bring himself to hate the three genins across from him. But someone like that who was willing to hurt his own students for pleasure and just because they weren't mindless little killers was not something he could shrug off.

"Hey! You Bastard! I wouldn't make schedules for the day, cause I'm gonna kick your sorry ass and make you sorry for what you did to your own students. And THEN I'll beat you up because someone like you disgraces the name of Ninja." Kiba, Shino and Tenten gave him an odd look when he mentioned them, but he just ignored it, keeping his eyes on the more dangerous member of their cell.

The man stopped laughing, and Naruto ignored the killer intent sent at him, and was glad when Shikamaru and Hinata didn't react either. After their incident with Gaara they had trained hard to not get frozen in the face of killer intent or a lot of Chakra being thrown around. Evidently it threw the bastard off because the killer intent lessened and he slid into a fighting stance, pulling out a giant shuriken and glaring at them.

"You need to learn to watch your manners little ninja. Otherwise someone with a lot more talent than you is going to come along and make you regret what you end up saying." Naruto pulled out his trench knives without looking away, and brought his hands up. He knew the fight was going to be a close thing, if he stood any chance at all. He doubted he could beat a regular Jounin, let alone a Jounin who probably had a cursed seal, not to mention three ninjas there to help him.

He was just about to make the first move when he felt another presence on the side of the clearing make itself known, and everyone looked up from their fighting stances to see a masked figure walk into view. His silver hair and mask a welcome sight to Naruto and his friends.

He turned and gave Naruto a grin before sighing dramatically and shrugging. "Naruto. How many times have I told you to not piss of your opponents so much before a big fight?"

Naruto grinned at him, "Can't help it Kakashi. The bastard deserved it for being such a monumental ass."

X X X

I was so very close to just taking out those last three sections and leaving a cliffhanger, but it seemed better to introduce Kakashi now then have him appear first thing when they're about to fight. So you all got off easy this time.

I got a review about the chakra issue with Naruto and Gaara, and possibly overpowering Naruto. Yeah, there is definitely an element of the story where he needs a lot more than you might expect. But I think the scene came out poorly in expressing it. Gaara was not releasing all of his energy, which would be kind of odd for a simple situation of being called a name he is unfortunately used to. Especially with his only friends at his side. Gaara has a lot, though, so for Naruto to match it is definitely special. I will not be making Naruto have the same amount of Chakra as Kyuubi in this story, it just isn't feasible without breaking with the style and plot I have in mind. I will be up front and say he may have as much as some of the lesser demons would, but that isnt as crazy given he is going to undergo a lifetime of hard training, hard experiences, and has the genetic makeup for a lot of chakra. As such he will be better than pretty much any other normal human you can imagine. But for now he still isn't to that point. He is just a well trained genin with a butt load of chakra.

Something I've been bothered by with this story is how out of character they feel. I am trying to capture their general personalities, because it is impossible to have them be the same if they dont go through the same lives those in the series did. In order to fix this, I will be making small changes and try to demonstrate their personalities much more strongly from now on. I started it in this chapter, and I had intended to do it anyways, since I want them to grow and mature. This also includes having people use honorifics. It's hard to capture her character with purely english mannerisms. I just cant seem to get the feeling that goes with using certain honorifics with english well. Please comment on what you think as this progresses, it helps me improve.

Finally, I am going to start hunting for a beta, so expect longer chapters if I do so, and a bit slower release schedule. Hopefully the increased length with make up for it, and not make it so I end up ignoring my writing feelings I have to reach some word count quota. We shall see.

That's all for now. Be prepared for next time as we get to find out what Naruto and the others can do against the Rookies of Konoha!


	13. For our Family

First of all, thank you all for your reviews. They mean a lot and make it much more enjoyable to write a chapter, even when I find myself faced with some form of writers block. At first I expected I would grow bored of this, but the story is still as enjoyable to write and formulate in my head, and it makes it even better to know people enjoy reading it.

I should have been studying, but I've been a good student for awhile, so I decided to slack off a bit and write this entire chapter today. It's also a good deal longer than my other chapters. As much as I like long releases, sadly time doesn't let me do it often. But since I had time today, I tried to make this chapter interesting for you action fans out there. I hope you enjoy.

Now to the story! All Rights to those who earned them first.

**Rekindle: For our Family**

Naruto had never been more relieved to see Kakashi than he was at that moment. Sure, he may be a bit lazy when it came to anything outside of training, and a bit of a pervert, but right now he could have hugged him.

Shikamaru just frowned, "And what took you so long?" Kakashi shrugged, seeming to understand the question. Naruto turned to gape at Shikamaru, "You knew he was here?!"

Shikamaru shrugged, "Not exactly, but I figured there would be someone nearby enough to help us if we were to run into trouble on the mission. You couldn't expect they would really just let us go alone, you know." Naruto hung his head. He HAD thought that by some chance they were going to be allowed to go by themselves.

Hinata put a hand on his shoulder. "It's all right, Naruto-kun. They just wanted us to be safe." He looked up at her, pouting. "You knew too, didn't you?"

She hung her head and poked her fingers together, "Ummm...not exactly...but I wondered what they were planning when they said we could go alone." Naruto sighed, even Hinata had seen more going on than he had, and she tended to believe people explicitly. He guessed he really was as dense as Tsunade liked to call him sometimes.

He turned back to face Kakashi, who was now leaning against a tree and watching the other Jounin with a bored expression on his face. The Jounin from Konoha though looked like he had seen a ghost. His skin was pale and he was swallowing deeply at the sight of Kakashi. He jerked a thumb at the guy, "Oy. What's wrong with him?"

Before Kakashi could answer, the Jounin whipped around to glare at him. Naruto took a step back, surprised at the sudden change in emotion on the creepy guy. "You little bastard! You led us into a trap. Tell me, where are the other thrice damned traitors?"

Naruto was about to reply when Kakashi sighed, looking like he was really enjoying the chance to annoy the man. "You know, given you threatened to kill these three, whom I've grown rather partial to, I don't think I want to tell you where the REAL Hokage is. You might want to try adding please, though, it does wonders I hear."

That's when realization hit Naruto. The man must have recognized Kakashi somehow, and thought that he was about to be attacked by his Father. It was amazing how much everyone seemed to fear his parents and the people he traveled with, and for once he could get a chance to use it to his advantage. He grinned evilly at the Jounin, "Besides, I like it when my dad just sneaks up on the enemy while he's distracted, and WHAM, the fight is over."

The Jounin whirled around, bringing his kunai up and to the ready, really thinking he was under attack and causing Naruto to burst out laughing. Seeing nothing there, whirled around, red faced with anger at being fooled and for making such a simple mistake as turning his back on them. He growled at the three ninja behind him, "Kill those three brats, or I will make sure I hunt down everyone in your family and murder them while they sleep." With that he lunged at Kakashi, who jumped back into the cover of the woods and took their fight away from them.

Kiba and Shino stepped forward as Tenten took a step back, while Hinata and Naruto mirrored the two boys, leaving Shikamaru to step back and work from deeper in the shadows of the trees. "I would ask if you wouldn't mind saving all of us the trouble, but by the sound of it, you don't have much choice do you?" He didn't turn when he heard Shikamaru yell over to them, just watching the determined looked in the eyes of the three in front of him. The only response was for the Shino boy to have a mass of insects swarm up behind him, forming a black cloud that had Naruto's skin crawling just watching it. Shikamaru sighed, "I guess not."

In a quieter voice, "It looks like we're dealing with an Aburame, and if my guess isn't far off, the other is an Inuzuka. Neither I or Naruto are well suited to fight the bug user, so he's up to you Hinata. Make sure to avoid being caught by his bugs, and use attacks that work on a wide area to thin their numbers out. Naruto, you get the Inuzuka. They're built for power, and are strong in one on one combat, but you should be fine. I'll handle the girl somehow." Naruto nodded. He didn't like having to split up, but between the bugs and the destructive power he had heard the dog users in Konoha could produce, it was best to split them up and not let them show off their ability to work as a team. He just hoped the others would be okay. "Be careful you two." They nodded, and Naruto gripped his weapons a bit tighter, letting his tension ebb away.

A split second later a kunai thrown by Shikamaru that whizzed between him and Hinata, landing in between the feet of the three ninjas across from them. They all had time and noticed the explosive tag, making sure to jump apart from one another to avoid the explosion, only to have one of Naruto's own group shadow them as they ran further into the woods.

X X X

Kakashi smiled at how things had turned out. He wasn't happy with the fact that they had attracted the attention of Konoha, but he was proud of Naruto and the others for how they had handled things so far. It was true Naruto made a mistake running off when he did, but only one of them would have been scouting the village eventually anyways. He just had the bad luck to run into those three Genin when he had, from there had had displayed a surprising amount of fore thought for someone who usually just acted on the spur of the moment.

Not that his running off wouldn't get him flayed alive by Kushina when she found out he had run off alone.

He leaned back and let a crescent kick sail over his stomach and before the ninja could rechamber his kick, Kakashi punched him in the ribs sending him toppling to the ground as he was off balance. He should have followed up the attack, but he wasn't too worried about Naruto and the others, and this was the perfect time to gain some information about the current state of affairs in Konoha.

But that didn't mean he could enjoy it a bit.

"You know, those three children you insulted back there know better than you to not let their guards down. " He said it in an offhand way and enjoyed seeing his opponent get frustrated at him.

The ninja growled and lunged at him with a kunai, which he side stepped, dancing backwards away from him. "Do I know you from somewhere? Were you that kid in the academy who kept wetting himself by any chance? Mizuki was it?" The wetting himself part was a lie, unfortunately, but he did remember Mizuki from back in his academy days. Both had been early applicants when it came to ninja training, but whereas Kakashi had shown promise and graduated early, Mizuki proved to be little more than a schoolyard bully who wasn't able to go far.

Kakashi saw Mizuki try and hide the hand seals for a Bunshin in the action of turning around to face him, but didn't say anything or show that he noticed. He was honestly surprised that they had promoted such a bad ninja to the rank Jounin, and it almost made him ashamed to associate himself as a Jounin from Konoha watching him.

He was probably at best Chuunin level, and had gotten lucky in his fights up until now, along with somehow surviving the curse seal being placed on him. Or, Kakashi thought, his training for over the past decade could have something to do with how easily he was dominating the fight.

He didn't bother trying to hide his hands by turning around, he simply pulled out his copy of Icha Icha Exile and used the motion to hide his own seals for the Kawarimi and a Bunshin. He had concealed himself and gave the log the impression of life right in front of his opponent, who never noticed the switch. Another mark on the honor of being considered a Jounin.

The Bunshin of Mizuki snarled at him. "Are you afraid to fight me like a real man Kakashi? It's one thing to run away from an attack, but see how you like it when I have you beaten on the ground and begging me for mercy." The fake Kakashi obviously didn't get angry and react, which only served to make the real Mizuki lose his patience. Jumping down from a nearby tree, he landed behind the Bunshin, who was pretending to act surprised, and with a strange seal, captured the Bunshin in a bunch of vines. The cloned version of Kakashi glared at Mizuki as it pretended to put up a struggle to escape. Luckily he hadn't pushed Mizuki far enough to try and injure the clone right away, and finally the clone stopped trying to fight the vines and settled for it's glaring. "Why is Konoha interested in a small town like this?"

Mizuki sneered. "It's not. That corrupt toad Gatou could rot for all I or anyone in Konoha could care. We just want his money. And it's a chance to see if those Genin are ready to become the elite of our fighting force." At this he frowned, "I find them...lacking." The clone wisely kept it's mouth shut. It hadn't hoped to get even that much out of the other man, which made him wonder how stupid he was in addition to his obvious flaws in being a ninja.

Mizuki knelled down beside the clone. "You must be pretty tough, to still be looking like you're wondering why I'm telling you all this. Well, those vines I used on you are not just for show as you're probably starting to find out. Soon their poison will work it's way through you and cause you're heart to stop, though, not without a good deal of pain first. And since I haven't seen hide or hair of the rest of your little vagabond group, I think it's safe for me to dispose of those children at my leisure. Or maybe it will be better to bring that child of the last Hokage back as a present for Orochimaru on the eve of the biggest war the Ninja world has ever seen. What do you think, Kakashi?" Kakashi's eyes widened at that. The poison would explain the freedom with which he was giving him information, but now he was more interested in the so called war.

Before he could get anymore information though, Mizuki made to kick the clone of Kakashi, and on doing so, revealed what was hiding inside. Cursing to himself, Kakashi lifted his hitai ite from his eye as the now enraged Mizuki started to have black spots run over his skin.

This fight has just gotten a lot more serious.

X X X

Shikamaru hid himself behind a tree, making sure that he hid his Chakra as thoroughly as possible. He swore the girl had a supernatural ability to find where he was hiding and launch enough weaponry at him to keep half of Suna supplied for a year. Even with his intellect he couldn't figure out how she was hiding so many weapons that weren't kept in a scroll. Though, on second thought, he was also pretty sure he didn't want to know.

Shaking his head to get rid of distractions, he thought over his options. He could stop all her projectiles once or twice if the need came down to it, but it would be risky, and a drain on his Chakra. His training with some of the most brilliant minds when it came to seals and jutsu creation had led him to learn jutsu he was sure were never dreamt of by the clan in Konoha who had the same power as him. She had already proven to understand the danger of the shadows, though, and kept angling herself so she stood under the openings in the trees, letting the midday sunshine keep it so that her shadow was at it's smallest.

So the question was how to get close. She had proven to be adept at long range combat, and he didn't doubt she knew how to wield close to mid range weapons just as adeptly as projectiles. Whereas he was best at at midrange combat, providing him enough room to evade and counter attacks while launching his own offensives using his shadow.

In short, he had chosen a very bad opponent to try and fight. Right now he was relying on the skills he had worked on with the others for evasion and stealth to avoid being hit, but eventually he would have to make a decisive move one way or another, otherwise she would win by striking when he finally made a mistake.

He took a moment to breathe deeply and closed his eyes, exploring the possibilities. He instantly discarded half a dozen possibilities, but finally after a few seconds he had a plan for how to stop the crazy Kunoichi out to get him. He hadn't want to resort to this, but it was the best way to end the fight, and even then it would require exact timing and a big of luck to make the fight go the way he wanted it to.

Shikamaru let out a tortured sighed, why couldn't he ever get the easy opponents.

X X X

Tenten pulled out another brace of kunai and scanned the trees around her, adjusting her position enough that she wasn't standing directly in any shadows. The boy looked like your stereotypical Nara, black spiky hair and bored expression that seemed to say how much he would rather be anywhere but there. After his first attempt at capturing her, her suspicions were confirmed and she knew to keep her distance. He had the advantage that the trees casted shadows all around them, and she even knew that he could lengthen his shadow by adding to the ones around him. So she wanted to present as difficult a target as possible.

The only problem was, he was a bloody hard target to hit as well, and true to Nara form, put in the bare minimum amount of effort needed to avoid her attacks.

She hated missing, yet he always seemed to just slip past her attacks, having placed himself somewhere that he could find cover in the face of a large number of weapons coming at him. She didn't want to hurt him, but given the circumstances, she was aiming to make the fight quick and decisive so he wouldn't have to suffer. But if he kept on thinking ahead so well in terms of where to hide, she was going to have to just wear him down, and that would make the fight longer and bloodier than she would like.

Sighing, Tenten let loose another kunai, aiming for the tree she knew he was now hiding behind. A moment later she shot another one so the first would angle in to hit him behind the tree. It was a simple variation of a technique the Anbu used to hit a target who was behind cover from above. Well, the technique was simple for her, at least.

She heard a muffled curse before the boy came out, a wound on his thigh causing him to limp slightly. Tenten hadn't expected to hit him, but she wasn't going to get too upset about the sudden advantage.

She watched him as he put his hands in his pockets, looking up at the sky above her head. They stood that way for awhile, and when it seemed like he wasn't going to do anything she coughed, trying to get his attention. When he looked at her, though, she blushed, realizing how silly it was to try and be so polite in a life or death fight. "I'm sorry." Tenten offered the apology, more for her own fragile psyche than for his. She had wanted to escape this life of fighting for everyone's continued existance for a long time now. The joy she used to feel at getting stronger and the dream she had of helping everyone long since crushed. This would be her first kill, but it wasn't a kill made for any of the reasons she thought she could make herself come to accept and believe in given time.

He shrugged. "You're protecting your family, I can understand that." He pulled his hands out of his pockets and moved his feet further apart, putting himself into what screamed to be called a lazy fighting stance. "But unfortunately, I can't let you hurt my family either."

Tenten let loose the rest of her kunai all at once, but the boy was already moving. He was having a hard time staying ahead of her now that his leg was injured, and she kept throwing more Kunai at him, slowly wearing him down. They all managed to just miss, and pulling out a large windmill shuriken, threw it at him, expecting it to hit.

Instead, he took a quick turn, and she cursed. She sped to where she last saw him, and saw him standing in a shadow, hands together in what she recognized as the seals the Nara used to capture people. Pushing off on her lead foot, she jumped back and threw a shuriken at him, forcing him to jump into the clearing behind him, his back pressed up against a tree.

Seeing that she finally had him in the open, she pulled out as many weapons as possible and threw them all at once, succeeding in pinning him to the tree, hands splayed apart so he couldn't form any seals.

Tenten breathed a sigh of relief. She had finally captured him, and immobilized him so she could do what was needed without a struggle. She started to walk into the clearing when she felt herself stop dead in her tracks. As much as she wanted to move, it was impossible to get any of her limbs to listen to what she was telling them to do. The best she could do was move her eyes, and looking up she saw the boy's right hand in a strange one handed seal, and a slight smirk on his face.

"I suppose I should be thankful you didn't want to kill me outright." She narrowed her eyes at him, but he ignored it. "The best way I could think of to get you within range is to make you think you had me injured and captured, and you walked right into my trap. I was just waiting until I found a good place to lead you to." He made a few motions with his hand and she felt herself move forward, coming to stand right in front of him, and she felt the odd sensation of her arm reaching out to take out one of the kunai holding his arm to the tree against her will. Having removed the kunai, he seemed to have enough freedom of movement to take the rest of them off by himself. He took his time, and meanwhile she was wondering how he had done it. She couldn't see any shadow connecting her to him, so she was completely at a loss as to what happened.

Eventually he looked at her and shrugged, "If you're so curious, go ahead and take a look." He did more of those strange one handed seals, and she looked over her shoulder, and it struck her what had happened. From the shadow he had been standing in initially a shadow was connected to hers, and he was controlling it somehow. "How? Thats not something Nara's should be able to do."

He made her turn to look at him again. "I never learned how to do anything from my clan. I had to take the basics and make my own Jutsu. This one allows me to control the shadows of the last shadow I stood in, provided I perform the right seals while standing in it. It takes a lot of Chakra, so I had to make sure I caught you with it properly. That being the case, I should wrap things up here. I hate hitting girls, but I hope you understand."

Tenten braced herself as she felt her hand rise up at his bidding and connect with her temple, sending stars across her vision. The last thing she felt before she slipped into unconsciousness was freedom return to her limbs as she toppled to the ground.

X X X

Hinata jumped into a nearby tree, managing to escape the wave of insects that had been ready to wash over her. She didn't have enough Chakra to use the Heavenly Spin often enough to keep up with the sheer number of bugs coming after her. They also seemed quite resistant, and when she had used it, it only ended up having the bugs flung off her like water from a wet dog without doing any real damage. She knew she would use up all of her Chakra trying to incapacitate the bugs alone, and Shino-san had already proven to be a skilled opponent in his own right.

She moved deeper into the woods, and out of his immediate line of sight. Hinata didn't doubt he had bugs everywhere to inform him of where she was, but it was better than staying too close. She knew her two most powerful attacks, the Heavenly spin which Minato had seen used by her clan and helped her develop on her own, and her own personal Jutsu that she had begun to create in the past few years, could stop him. The problem was she would have preferred to not to resort to such extreme measures, as both could cause more damage than she was comfortable dealing him, and she hadn't mastered her own original Jutsu enough to want to risk using it. So far what she was left with was relying on her speed and skill in avoiding attacks, in hopes she could talk him out of fighting.

"Shino-san. Please don't make me do this. I understand that you are in a difficult position, but we can try to help somehow." She couldn't see the boy's face from this position, but she felt his Chakra rise a small fraction. His cool voice floated over to her, "And what do outsiders intend to do to safeguard a group of civilians in a hostile territory?" Hinata bit her lip, "I don't know. But we can try to find some solution that will help, we don't have to fight each other."

She didn't receive an answer, instead she saw him turn to face her and run towards her, his bugs swarming around him.

Instead of trying to run again, she frowned and moved inwards, surprising the boy by ducking under the stream of bugs he launched in her direction. Using her left hand, she attracted the bugs away from where they were covering his shoulder by pooling the Chakra they sought after in her palm. In the moment when he had nothing to protect him, Hinata poked all five of her fingers on her right hand into tenketsu on his shoulder, effectively removing that arm from their fight. As he jumped back, she used a Heavenly spin to remove any bugs that might have attached themselves to her, and to safe guard against any retaliation.

Orienting herself, she saw him on the other side of the clearing holding his now useless shoulder, but he didn't let what must have been a painful attacks show on his face. "You use Jyuuken." He didn't ask, just commented. She raised her head up and looked him directly in the eyes, and he seemed to recognize the Byakugan. "Ahh."

She bowed slightly, "I'm sorry." Shino raised an eyebrow at her, and she blushed. She couldn't help but feel bad for hurting him, he didn't seem like a bad person, and she had never enjoyed causing anyone discomfort if at all possible. "Will you please back down now, Shino-san?"

The boy raised a kunai with his good hand, and the bugs rose around him. "I cannot endanger the well being of my teammates and my clan by responding to your pleas. I apologize."

He came at her more cautiously this time. She didn't doubt that he was probably a well rounded fighter, but after sparring Kushina for so long, she wasn't worried for herself, merely about how to end the fight without hurting him. Seeing him create a Bunshin out of his bugs, she let him believe she had fallen for the substitution, hitting the Bunshin and immediately turning around to face him as he prepared to attack her from behind.

Hinata ducked under his punch, using the move to help her spin around to his back. She made sure to expel a small amount of Chakra from her skin to help keep the bugs from getting too close. They would eat the Chakra, but it was better than letting them get to the rest of her reserves.

Bringing a hand up, she tapped him on the opposite shoulder blade as he passed, and using her position behind him channeled a bit of Chakra into the tip of her shoe and tapped the back of his knee, bringing him down to the ground when he couldn't control his leg properly anymore.

Hinata looked down at him, and used a Heavenly Spin to get rid of any bugs in the area, removing his last weapon from him. Leaning over, she felt him stiffen under her touch. "Don't worry, I'm only going to put you to sleep until we find a way to help you all." With that, she applied Chakra to a tenketsu along his spine and watched as his eyes shut. The last thing on his face was a single tear, and she thought she heard him breathe out what sounded like 'Mother' and 'Father' before falling unconscious.

For the first time in her life, she felt a measure of hatred enter her heart at the person who would force children their own age to fight and kill innocent people just to keep their families from being murdered.

X X X

"Stand still you little idiot!" Naruto side stepped another big punch the dog user swung at him. "Hey! I'm taller than you buddy!" Kiba growled at him and just swung again, showing teeth this time.

Normally Naruto would be all for jumping in there and kicking his ass, but he just couldn't find it in him to do too much when his opponent was being forced to fight him for all the wrong reasons.

Though Kiba seemed to be trying to make sure he was at least thorough in ripping his head off for those wrong reasons.

Summoning a clone, he sent the clone in to flying side kick the boy as he jumped at him for another attack. To his credit, Kiba was able to grab the leg and swing the clone into a nearby tree, dispelling it, but Naruto had already dive rolled under him, and was behind when he landed. He brought his leg up to side kick the boy in the back, sending him sprawling face first into the ground next to Akamaru, who was growling at him for hurting his master.

He pointed at the downed boy. "Blame him! I'm willing to ignore his insults and let him go without kicking his ass, but he just keeps coming back for more." He heard Kiba growl again as he pushed himself to his arms and knees. "I can't just give up you moron. If I don't stop you, then everyone will be...everyone will be..." Naruto strained to hear if he would say anymore, but he stopped talking then, and stood up, staring at Naruto, his eyes filled with tears. "They'll kill everyone. Maybe not the ninja who are still useful, but what about those who can't protect themselves. They'll kill the rest of my family for something stupid like this. He'll do it, and that bastard Kage of ours will probably congratulate him. I can't let you beat me."

Naruto frowned. It was one thing facing an opponent who was just angry and was being forced to fight him, but this was completely different. His own words seemed to drive home how important this fight was, and the look Kiba had in his eyes reminded Naruto of when he fought Gaara. Determined and convinced that he would be willing to die there to protect what was important to him.

Kiba was going to do everything in his power to defeat him, not for himself, but for his friends and loved ones. Naruto didn't need to be told how much more dangerous, and difficult to keep down, that could make him.

"Kiba. Stop this." He was unusually serious, but he guessed Kiba was rarely this serious either. He had his shoulders squared, and head down, and Naruto could just hear him making small dog like noised he guessed as instructions to his familiar. Not letting him get the chance to finish, he rushed the boy, sending an elbow at his head, hoping to knock him out before he really started fighting at his hardest. Instead the boy ducked, and Naruto brought a knee up, hitting him in the chin and sending him sprawling into a tree. He was about to follow it up when the dog lunged at him, trying to scratch and tear at his flesh. He was hesitant to hit it for fear of doing serious damage to such a small creature, so he just back pedaled for a moment before grabbing it by the scruff of the neck.

That seemed to have been a bad idea though, because it had given Kiba time to take what looked like a soldier pill, and before he could stop it, he launched another one into the dogs mouth too. Figuring that was a bad sign, he dropped the dog before it's fur turned red, and growled fiercely at him. He saw Kiba bring his hands together and cursed when he recognized the skill he called out from the list of Jutsu his dad had told him about in their lessons on what to expect if they were attacked by Konoha ninjas. Before his eyes he saw the dog grow in size and take the shape of Kiba, and in a moment he had two Kiba's facing him, claws extended and looking too beatific for his comfort.

Naruto's eyes widened and he quickly side stepped to avoid the Kiba that had once been the dog filled the space he had just been standing in. He didn't have time to rest though as he ducked under the real Kiba, his back hitting the ground hard, but giving him enough purchase to kick both legs out and catch Kiba in the stomach. He did a back roll and came up to face the two, who were turning around to face him again, completely ignoring the injury he had just received. Naruto now understood why the Inuzuka clan were considered such dangerous opponents to face one on one in Taijutsu.

In this form he was much faster, and he didn't doubt that the boy had more muscle on him now, so if he got hit it would be pretty bad. It also seemed like they got a bit tougher, he had hoped to at least damage the boys ribs in someway to make the fight a bit more even, yet he didn't show any sign of pain, if he felt it at all. Naruto could probably heal whatever they did to him in the span of a few moments, but judging by the looks of things, he didn't want to test the theory out.

The two Kibas launched themselves at him again, and Naruto was forced to go onto the defensive for the first time in their fight. The two seemed to be reading each others mind and coordinated their attacks in a way that made it hard for him to do anything but defend It was starting to piss him off how much harder it was to subdue an enemy than to just beat the snot out of them. He wasn't above sending the boy home bruised and maybe with a few broken bones if he had to, but a lot of his weapons or Jutsu's would do even more damage than was appropriate.

Right now Kiba wasn't giving him much choice in the matter either. He was pushing himself so hard that Naruto knew if he didn't totally incapacitate him, he would just keep coming back for more. That damned soldier pill also meant he couldn't wait for him to wear himself down, he could probably go at this pace for hours, fueled on the pill and his own need to protect everyone.

Seeing an opening as the two Kiba's were skidding to a stop on opposite sides of him, he summoned four shadow clones, who stayed close to him. Instead of trying another plan, Kiba just lunged again, this time having the one he thought was Akamaru, though he was so confused on who was who by now he really had no idea, go to the other side. He probably was hoping to catch the group of clones in the middle. Instead of trying to run, the real Naruto ducked as two clones stood in front of the onslaught, slowing them down at the cost of being expelled. The remaining two clones grabbed a Kiba each, and with all their might brought their heads together, causing them to collapse on the ground near Naruto.

Naruto kneeled next to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, stop this. I promise I'll find someway to keep everyone safe, and I never go back on my word." Kiba whirled around, and Naruto was too slow to dodge the claws that left four nasty gashes along his chest. He stumbled back holding the wound while his Chakra moved to fix it while Kiba got to his feet.

"Piss off! You say all those things but you don't know what it's like to have to live like this. There's nothing you or anyone can do to stop that madman of a Kage, NOTHING!" Akamaru stood up next to him, and Kiba put his hands in a seal. "Gatsuuga!"

Naruto cursed as he was forced to Kawarimi out of the way of two cyclones that were aimed for him. He barely had time to land before they had turned around to try and hit him again. "You talk big, but if you were in the same situation, what would you do?! Tell me if you're so damned smart!" Kiba's voice echoed oddly as he spun around, and Naruto just stood there.

Even as the Gatsuuga got closer, he refused to move. If the boy wanted an answer, we could give him that answer. Creating a clone, he put out a hand and let it start forming the Rasengan with him as he stared at the whirlwind coming at him.

"I'd fight until my dying breath to protect everyone. I wouldn't give up or surrender to anyone if it meant I could save them. I've fought demons and lived my entire life in hiding because my family and I choose to do the right thing. I would NEVER do the wrong thing just because someone ordered me to, or threatened me, because I'm going to protect everyone!"

With that, he brought the Rasengan up to meet the whirlwind that was the combined force of Kiba and his dog, stopping them in their tracks a few feet from him, his Rasengan the only thing keeping them at bay.

"I don't know what Konoha is like, but I promise you I will do everything I can to help change it someday." Pushing on the Rasengan with a bit more Chakra, he caused the two to stop their spinning before they got blasted back into a tree, this time staying down for good judging by the looks of it.

Naruto stood their panting for a moment, trying to catch his breath. He was sort of surprised with himself. He still wasn't very good with that Jutsu, but he had managed to make it work, and was proud of himself. Bouncing up, he grinned at what he had accomplished and was about to let out a whoop of success, but was cut short when he spun around to face some noise in the bushes behind him. Working their way towards him were Shikamaru and Hinata, both a bit dirty, but neither looked hurt. In fact, it seemed like he had taken the worst damage, though the cuts were mostly closed now.

He grinned at them and Shikamaru sighed, Hinata just ran forward, examining his chest before looking up at him with an angry look on her face. "You're hurt!" Naruto blinked, "Yeah...he kind of surprised me back there. Got all fierce and the like, should have seen what his dog could do too."

She stomped her foot, "That's not what I mean Naruto-kun! You rely too much on that Chakra of yours to help you. One of these days you're going to get hurt and you won't be able to just bounce back from it." Naruto blinked at her, then grinned at Shikamaru who was smirking. He smiled down at her, "You're cute when you go all fierce." Hinata's cheeks turned a deep red and she turned around from him, her fingers coming up as she poked them together. Naruto chuckled again before getting serious and putting a hand on her shoulder, ignoring the blush that dusted his cheeks doing so.

"I promise to be careful. This was just an accident, you know I wouldn't fool around when it involves keeping you two safe. Thank you for worrying about me Hinata." Hinata nodded slowly, and he grinned at her, even though she couldn't see it. He looked up at Shikamaru, "So, what now?"

X X X

Kakashi was using Mizuki's head, the only part of him not trapped underground, as a place to rest his book while he read when Naruto and the others walked up to him. He didn't turn to look at them, but raised a hand in greeting. Naruto sat across from him, and made to grab the book to get his attention before Kakashi picked it up and pocketed it in one motion. He just shook his head, ever since Kushina had gone off on him and destroyed his books whenever she found them, he had gotten paranoid about their safety.

"I didn't know you were interested in these yet Naruto. You know if your mother found out I let you read one she would kill me." Naruto rolled his eyes. "Just get to explaining Kakashi. I thought were were going to be allowed to do this alone! Why did they lie to us and send you."

Kakashi sighed, "I thought you had heard it earlier, we couldn't just let you go out alone, and I think you see the reason why now. I was just going to observe and you really would have been able to do everything on your own. Don't tell me you would rather I hadn't shown up..." Kakashi raised an eyebrow at him in question. Naruto shook his head, and Kakashi nodded. "Good. Though, you probably could have taken this fellow here." At that, he knocked the binding of his book against the ninja's head. "Speed and Power, but not a whit of skill to speak of. What of the three you faced?"

They all explained what happened, making sure to explain the reluctance to fight on the part of their opponents. Kakashi sighed and leaned against a tree. "It's not like we didn't expect this to be happening in Konoha. But there isn't much we can do to help the situation. For now, we should go collect those three you defeated for their own safety if nothing else."

Naruto nodded, and they led them to where they had taken the three unconscious Genin and tied them up before trying to find Kakashi.

X X X

Orochimaru glared down at the garbage that called itself ninja. He let his senses out a bit, and could sense the ninja cell who had done this nearby, yet didn't pursue them. He wasn't sure who had done this, and frankly, didn't care beyond wanting to kill them for the enjoyment of it. Yet he had other plans at the moment, and his own enjoyment at killing them would have to be put off for awhile longer.

Taking out the grass cutter, he knelt in front of Mizuki, who still was buried neck deep in the ground, and under a Jutsu to remain silent. His eyes were wide and staring up at him in horror as realization struck him about what was going to happen.

The three Genin would be given the curse seal, and if they survived their punishment for failing him would be served, the pain of the process giving them the only second chance they would ever receive under him. Mizuki though was a weak fool who had been lucky, riding on the backs of his more powerful teammates to make it where he was now. Now that he had been forced to operate on his own and failed, he intended to remove the eye sore from his service.

It was done in a moment, and Orochimaru lifted up the unconscious forms of the three Genin before carrying them off deeper into the woods to wait until they either died or awoke from the placing of the curse seal upon them. He didn't once looking back on the bloody clearing he left behind.

X X X

**Notes:**

Again, thank you for all the reviews. I will not turn down more reviews either. They are quite pleasant to read. :p

Hopefully everyone enjoyed the chapter. Things are getting dangerous in the land of wave, and they haven't even started to work on the bridge yet. Hopefully they will make it through the week okay. I foresee some dark times for them around the corner, but what do I know?

If some of you read the chapter carefully, I gave a big hint about what I am planning to do in the future. Brownie Points if you can figure it out.

As for you fluff fans, don't worry, there will be more character development in that regard soon enough. Despite the way it may seem, I've already incorporated something important in that aspect into my story, it just won't make itself known until the next few chapters. Also, you may need to bear with me, I am not used to writing romance, and seeing as it has to fit in nicely to the action side of this story, it may take some work to find the right balance for it.

Also, if you have any questions about some of the minor changes I made to suffixes and personalities (Hopefully nothing that will be change the feel of the character, just showcases their way of thinking better) you might want to read the notes for the last chapter. I accidentally uploaded a version without them last time, so you may not have seen them.

That's all for now. Review Please, or I will turn out the lights and let the Grues nibble on your toes. :)


	14. Guilt

Sorry about the wait folks. I had severe writers block on this chapter, and I was incredibly busy. Not much to say right now, so I hope you enjoy the chapter.

All Rights to those who earned them, and all that Jazz.

Rekindle: Guilt

A cold mist was floating through the cave, but Shikamaru trusted in the few Shadow clone scouts sent out by Kakashi and Naruto to alert him if they saw anything he missed. Fighting back a yawn, he let his gaze sweep towards the cave and shook his head when he heard Tazuna snort loudly in his sleep.

'If they don't track us down through other means, at least they'll be able to track us here by the sound that man makes alone.' Shikamaru kept the thought to himself though and let himself watch a cloud passing in front of the moon. Even though normally he would be more worried about not nodding off to sleep while on watch, Shikamaru's mind was a whirlwind of thoughts and concerns, making him feel wide awake and jumpy. Out of the concerns he had right now, near the top of the list was what had happened to the three Genin they had fought earlier that day. They had spent a short period of time looking for them before they had to accept the truth, and truthfully, there were bigger problems they had to handle. There was someone else out there who was helping the ninjas from Konoha, and they were good enough that they didn't leave any trail to follow whatsoever.

The thing that haunted his thoughts, however, was what they had seen when they had returned to where they had left that sadistic jounin Kakashi had fought. Just thinking about it made him have to fight back the urge to purge his stomach.

Shikamaru couldn't get the image of all that blood out of his mind, splattered everywhere, a horrible contrast to the normal greens and browns of the forest. The most haunting thing was the cold dead stare from a severed head watching him, looking like they were accusing him for what had occurred..

He shook his head, forcing himself to focus on the clouds. He wasn't going to let his guilt get to him, at least not until they were out of danger.

They had left the clearing immediately and taken Tazuna and his family with them to this cave. It wasn't as comfortable as an actual house, but it was relatively well hidden, and they had agreed it was best to try and remain here when not at the bridge working. Shikamaru had been glad Kakashi was there to explain that one. No matter the logic, he had a feeling Tazuna and that child of his would have railed against it if he or anyone else tried to recommend it, no matter how needed it was.

Shikamaru stiffened when he heard someone clear their throat from deeper inside the cave, forcing himself to relax after he realized who it was. "You two can come out, you know."

Naruto and Hinata came around the corner, both of them looking tired and a bit haunted. He didn't doubt the sight from earlier that day was haunting their thoughts as much as it was his. Without saying anything, they joined him on the rock, Naruto leaning back against the wall of the cave, hands behind his head as he looked out and watched the stars. Hinata sat on the edge of the stone, her back ramrod straight as she looked down at the floor.

Shikamaru gave Naruto a long look before nodding to her slightly, and he got a shrug. To his credit though, Naruto put a hand on her shoulder. "You all right there(,) Hinata?"

When she didn't say anything, they shared another look, and they sat there silently until Hinata started shaking slightly. After a moment, they heard a few muffled sobs, and both of them sat up, placing themselves right beside her. Shikamaru was distinctly uncomfortable trying to console anyone, he usually just didn't care enough to bother, but Hinata was an important person to him so he had to try. Shikamaru glad to see Hinata turn to sob into Naruto's shoulder, and not his. She needed the support right now, and he wasn't surprised by her relying on Naruto over himself. Shikamaru knew he should have seen it coming, what with how obviously Hinata cared for Naruto.

Naruto looked over at him and he shrugged, putting a hand on Hinata's back. "Are you okay Hinata?" She didn't answer, and Shikamaru frowned. He wasn't sure what to do, and he sat there trying to think of what to say when Naruto slowly wrapped Hinata in a hug, pulling her close while she let the tears out. Shikamaru blinked, not expecting Naruto to be comfortable enough to embrace her, but silently agreed with the action. Sometimes people just had to get their feelings out before talking about what was bothering them.

Though at that thought, he supposed he would have to stop running away from it too.

He shut his eyes and this time didn't shy away from the images that came to him. He saw the horrible reality of what they had faced, and instead of thinking of something more pleasant, he analyzed it from every angle. If someone were to ask Shikamaru where the last blade of grass had been a year from now, he would remember it. The whole thing was disgusting, and left him feeling sick to the stomach, but he owed it to the man they had indirectly murdered, to try and accept what had happened.

Thinking that way too often could drive a man mad, he reasoned, but it helped give him a realistic view of events. He didn't think he would ever be okay with what happened, or with any kill he would come across or have a hand in, but it would make it easier to learn how to desensitize himself to it.

He opened his eyes to see Naruto staring at him, his face unusually serious. The blond gave him a nod before squeezing Hinata lightly and moving her back far enough to look her in the face. "Are you okay now?"

Hinata hung her head, and Shikamaru could just make out an apology from her, making Naruto frown. "You didn't do anything to that guy Hinata. If anything, it's my fault for letting them know we were here, so uh, you can stop crying, okay?"

Hinata shook her head. "I'm sorry. I know what happened earlier..." here she took a moment to get control of herself again. "I know what happened earlier isn't our fault, really. Especially not your's Naruto-kun, but..."

Shikamaru sighed, "You also feel guilty about letting it get to you so much?" It was rather apparent that he was right when she jumped a bit, and if it was possible hiding her face even more.

He was just about to say something when Naruto beat him to it. "That's stupid." Shikamaru glared at the blond as Hinata winced. He knew that he often wasn't the most polite person, which was a lot coming from someone who usually didn't care enough to show any respect, but he couldn't believe he had said that to Hinata. The argument died on his lips when he saw Naruto giving him that serious look again. Naruto nodded to him, and he decided to hold off as Naruto turned back to Hinata.

"What I mean by stupid isn't that you're stupid for worrying about it, Hinata. You would be stupid to think we would hold it against you. We're friends, right?" Hinata nodded slowly, "Yes, but you two seem so...so..." Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Relaxed or something? No way. I am trying to keep the image out of my head as we speak, but I would prefer the one who died be him over either of you. I can't help it that someone did that to him, but if it was because we stopped him from hurting anyone who is special to me, I can live with that. So, please don't be sad, okay?"

Hinata nodded, but didn't start crying again, just keeping her head down, and Shikamaru guessed, blushing her head off. He raised an eyebrow at Naruto, "So, when did you learn how to act mature?" Naruto stuck his tongue out at him, and they let it end with that, all sitting in the mouth of the cave in a comfortable silence. Shikamaru took one last look at the two before closing his eyes and smiling, they had fallen asleep, and were leaning on each other slightly. Even though he usually didn't give voice to it, he was glad to have friends like them.

He didn't even notice Kakashi come out to take over the watch for them before he fell asleep too.

X X X

Naruto woke up the next morning to the odd feeling of something warm and soft against his face. He registered it enough to know normally he would have worried about it, but it felt comfortable enough he just couldn't find it in himself to want to move. Instead he brought his face closer to it and was about to go back to sleep when he heard a murmur come from his new pillow. Even tired, Naruto knew pillows didn't usually make noise.

He opened his eyes to see a strand of hair in front of his face, a dark blue and familiar sort of hair. Naruto blinked a few times before the pieces fell into place in his head, and he jumped away like he had been burned. His movement caused Hinata to wake up though, because she was looking at him as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. The only thing that went through Naruto's mind was how cute that was, and it made him blush even worse.  
Eventually she woke up enough to see the dark blush on his face, and it looked like she remembered what had happened because she suddenly turned scarlet red as well, turning to face the cave wall.

They stood that way for awhile, neither one talking until Naruto cleared his throat, "Um...feeling better today?" She nodded, but didn't say anything. "That's good" Naruto said, trying to find the right words to say. "If you ever need someone to talk to, well, I'm not good at that sort of thing, but I'm always willing to try." Finally Hinata looked up at him, her cheeks still red, but she gave him a small smile and nodded. Seeing it made Naruto swallow deeply. He wasn't sure why, but the look she was giving him made his heart beat really quickly, and made him more nervous than he had been in any fight. He couldn't place his finger on what it was, but something important seemed to be cropping up between them.

"Look, Hinata..." He began, but was cut off when a cough came from the front of the cave, where Kakashi and Shikamaru were watching them. Both Naruto and Hinata began to blush again, but while Hinata busied herself staring at the rock wall next to her, Naruto went with the best reaction he could think of. Annoyance.

"What do you two want?" Naruto glared at them, and the two shared a long look that made him suspicious, but Kakashi shrugged. "Nothing, Naruto. Though, you may want to know the person you're supposed to be guarding is even now packing up to head to that bridge of his."

Naruto blinked at them, then disappeared into the cave, a curse on his lips. At hearing his stream of obsceneties, Hinata blushed and Kakashi laughed. They waited until he was just about to run out of the cave entrance before Kakashi hooked a finger into his collar, causing him to fall flat on his back. "Naruto, where are you going?"

He looked up at Kakashi, "What was that for?!" Kakashi sighed, "If everyone goes to watch him, who is going to watch things here?" Naruto opened his mouth in a small 'o' and just kept staring at him. Kakashi sighed again, "Sometimes I wonder what goes on in that head of yours. All right, you know the drill, make a clone to come with us, and you'll know if anything happens when it disappears." Naruto pouted, but made the clones anyways.

He couldn't deny it made sense, and he knew he would have thought of it...eventually. He just wanted to try and take back command of this mission from Kakashi, and he didn't doubt Kakashi realized that, because he leaned down to whisper to Naruto. "I know you want to prove yourself, but for everyone's safety, I would feel better if I tried to help." Naruto nodded, biting back some choice complaints that came to mind.

He didn't say anything as he watched everyone else walk away, and gave Hinata a small wave when she turned around to wave good bye slightly. Only when they were out of sight did he groan and throw himself against the wall of the cave, sliding down to sit down on the floor. He made a couple of clones who glared at him for making them go and act as scouts before they walked off, which he ignored, and closed his eyes. Naruto was just about to fall asleep when he heard someone stand next to him. Judging that it came from the direction of inside the cave, and the fact that it didn't sound too heavy, he figured it was that kid, Inoru or something like that. He opened his eyes and looked over to say hello, but was greeted with a cold stare from Inari.

"You're an idiot! And now you're just getting us killed even quicker!" Naruto jumped up, glaring down at the boy. He was only about half of his height at best, and was wearing big baggy clothing that made him look even more gaunt then the rest of the village children. But Naruto ignored that, "What did you say?! I already told everyone it was an accident, so stop getting on me for it already."

Naruto turned away from Inari, but the boy kicked the back of his knees, and Naruto cut back a curse as the boy ran back into the caves to sulk. Naruto ignored the apologies of Tsunami and tried to not think of how Hinata would react if he beat up one of the people he was supposed to protect.

X X X

Over the next few days, Naruto was finding it harder and harder to not smack their resident sulk. Anytime Naruto was alone, he would sit and glare at him, only making a move to come up and yell at them when the others were around, probably thinking they would save him from getting hurt for his next bout of tempe tantrums.

Inari was walking over to them, his face looking like a brooding storm cloud. Naruto leaned over to whisper to Shikamaru, "If that brat starts again, I'm going to take him to Gatou personally." Shikamaru grunted; he was as sick of the boy's antics as Naruto, and if he knew Shikamaru as well as he thought, he was no doubt considering how to shut the boy up as well without having the others yell at him for it.

"Why do you guys keep going back to that bridge everyday? You're just asking to get yourself killed with Grandpa." Tazuna looked down at the ground, and Naruto was tempted to tell the kid off for saying something like that to his family, but ignored it, turning to Tazuna. "I told you my clones would be alot of help, didn't I? I bet you got loads more done today than you normally would!"

Tazuna nodded, "Yeah, you were a real help out there boy. Damndest thing I've ever seen, 20 blondes running around making my normal helpers look like they haven't done a hard day's work in their life." Naruto grinned, and was about to comment when he felt something come at him, and moved just in time for a rock to whiz past his face and hit the wall. Naruto turned to stare at Inari, who was glaring at him worse than ever. Naruto felt the anger build up within him and was about to do something with it when Hinata stepped in between him and the boy, her back facing towards him.

"Why?" began Hinata, her voice soft, and it stopped Naruto from interrupting her. It also seemed to have an effect on Inari, because he looked distinctly uncomfortable, and looked anywhere but at Hinata. "Because he's an idiot, he's only going to die when Gatou gets here."

Hinata shook her head, "No, I mean why are you so afraid, Inari? You surely don't want your grandfather to die, do you?" Inari jumped a bit at that, and stared at the ground, but didn't say anything. Hinata took a step closer to him. "We heard what happened to your father, and it must have been painful, but you can't believe that by not caring it will make it any easier to lose someone."

Naruto looked around at the look of understanding on Tazuna's face, and the nods of agreement from Kakashi and Shikamaru. He pointed at Inari, "Someone mind explaining what's going on?"

"You weren't there when we got to their house, Naruto. Inari's father was killed by Gatou a few months ago." Naruto nodded as it started to make more sense to him, though it didn't stop him from being angry at the kid. He didn't get the real important thing he should have learned from the whole incident with his father, something even someone as dense as himself understood. He would have to try and make the kid see it, even if it required beating it into him.

Hinata made to place a hand on Inari's shoulder then, but the boy batted her hand away, "I hate all of you!" With that, he ran out of the cave, heading deep into the woods to get alone. Hinata looked sadly out of the cave, and everyone else seemed to want to avoid eye contact with each other, all of them lost in their own thoughts about the boy.

Naruto just growled. "That idiot. He shouldn't be out there alone, I'm going to go drag his ungrateful butt back here." No one said anything, and he stormed out of the cave, following the obvious trail the kid had left in the foliage.

He made it halfway back to the kid's house when he heard something, and ducked behind a nearby tree. Leaning past the trunk, he looked into the nearby clearing, and sitting there was Inari, tied up with two ninja standing guard over him. One of the ninjas grabbed the boy by his collar and started to drag him away, and Naruto cursed.

Gatou had found him, and it looked like the kid's premonition would be right, only he would be the next to die if Naruto didn't do anything about it.

X X X

Sorry about the short chapter folks. I had a difficult time writing this chapter, and it was a force of will to get it out. I still feel it isn't up to snuff, but our awesome beta, Falconrok5, helped pan out some of the more poorly written portions before you were subject to them. A big round of applause is do there. Also, he kindly did a beta for Chapter 9 and 10, so both have been cleaned up, if you're interested in reading them again.

I won't say much right now, but the next chapter IS written, and with the Beta right now. Unlike this chapter, I knew exactly what I wanted to do, so I managed to pump out a much longer one in a day. So make sure to stick around and read it. Full of Character Development, Fluff, and Fighting.

And thank you to everyone who has read the story. Close to 4000 views makes me feel special. So I will continue to do my best to give you people your reading pleasure.

Stay safe.


	15. Rematch

Wow. I am surprised about how fast Falconrok5 turned this around. I am a cruel slave driver, yet he managed to get it back for everyone's viewing pleasure quickly.

Sorry to those who felt not much happened last chapter, but it was mostly a little bit of character development. I didn't see Naruto and the gang being quite ready to view the scene of a violent murder quite yet. It was a chance for them to prepare for the dark days ahead, so to speak. And it provides a small amount of Naru/Hina material. Which this story has been a little short on.

Anyways, time to begin the story. So all credit for the original story to where it is due, which is not to me.

**Rekindle: Rematch**

Naruto followed the two missing ninjas as they dragged Inari deeper into the woods. Judging by the way they carried themselves, it would be far too simple a matter of taking them out, but he wasn't too worried about that right now. The real question is what he wanted to do about it. They didn't look like they were interested in killing Inari, yet, and an idea was entering Naruto's head.

It was reckless, and probably a bit stupid, but he figured it would be a good idea in the end. There was a lot of potential in this situation, and he would be stupid not to seize on to it.

With that thought, he slipped back into the trees, waiting for the right moment to jump into action.

X X X

Inari watched with wide eyes as the ninja in front of him kept playing with some kind of sword. He seemed to enjoy seeing his own blood run down the blade. They had been using that sword to threaten him a few times, and if Inari ever got out of this alive, he was sure he would be glad to never see a sword again.

He held back his sobs as the ninja grinned at him in a way that seemed to just speak of all the things he wanted to do to him, probably the nicest of which would be to kill him. He wondered in the back of his head if he had brought this on himself for being so mean to his family and those ninja, but devoted most of his thoughts to how he could escape. He knew he couldn't outrun even a poorly trained ninja, and he didn't think they would let him get far before dragging him back, or worse.

Inari had never been more frightened in his life.

He watched as one of the ninja came back in from the bushes, where he had gone to relieve himself. Compared to his partner who dressed in all black and looked gaunt and crazy as he played with his blade, the other was large. He couldn't have been much older than the hired ninja back at the cave, but he was easily twice their size, and his cropped hair and narrow eyes gave him a stupid look when he didn't look downright mean.

"Good ridge in there, felt like a king, or something." The gaunt ninja nodded, and took his turn in the woods as the bigger one came over and squatted in front of him. "Scared, boy?" He grinned at Inari, showing off dirty and crooked teeth. Inari kept silent, but his shaking gave him away, making the ninja grin wider, "You should be." Inari whimpered, and the ninja stood there waiting for his friend to come back, but for some reason stopped what had been a near endless stream of threats from before. After a few moments his partner came to the edge of the clearing, his clothing covered with a few splatters of blood, but otherwise looking healthy.

"Ran into a blond pest in there, but he shouldn't be a problem anymore." Inari froze, his heart sinking. They had killed Naruto, just like he had said, and it was his fault for running off like he had. He thought he would be able to handle it, but the Lavender eyed girl had been right, it still hurt enough that he felt tears come to his eyes. If he hadn't run off, everything would have been all right.

"Enough of that, though. He was traveling with someone." The dark ninja pulled on something in the cover of the trees, and a moment later Inari's mom came stumbling into the clearing, bound and gagged.

Inari screamed into the dirty cloth in his mouth, and tried to squirm out of the ropes as the two ninjas got closer to his mom. Seeing he wasn't getting anywhere, he managed to spit the cloth out of his mouth. "Stop it! Leave her alone!" The ninjas turned to look at him, and then looked at each other for a moment, before grinning. "And why should we, small fry?" the bigger one grunted.

Inari froze. He didn't know what he could say to convince them that they should stop whatever it is they were planning. But he wasn't going to let them get his mom; he had already lost his dad and he couldn't stand to lose anyone else. "Stop...or…or I'll make you regret it, you idiots!"

Inari had to force himself not to wince when they laughed at that, though it wasn't anywhere near as disturbing as the laughs they had when they first caught him, and that gave Inari a bit of courage. "Like a kid could really do that to two ninjas." The gaunt one sneered at him and started to turn back to his mom. "Are you too scared to see then?!" Inari yelled back.

The ninja turned back around, and for a moment, Inari thought he saw an odd look in his eye, like he was proud of Inari, but it passed quickly enough that Inari wasn't sure what it really was. "Those are big words. Are you willing to back them up?" Inari looked at the frightened eyes of his mother, who was bleeding slightly from a few small cuts, and nodded to her. "Yeah, I am."

The next thing Inari knew, a kunai was in the ground next to him, and the ropes holding him cut. In front of him, the big ninja stood cracking his knuckles and grinning at him, making Inari shiver slightly in fear before he hesitantly picked up the Kunai they had used to free him. A weapon was better than nothing, especially against a ninja, he supposed.

As the ninja took a step forward, Inari took one back, bringing the blade awkwardly up in front of him. The next thing he knew, though it probably was a slow attack by any ninjas standards, the ninja was on top of him, and swinging wide at his head. Inari just barely ducked under it, and backpedaled even further towards the cover of the trees. He took a moment to look around for anything to help him hide, and not seeing anything, swallowed heavily.

The next time the ninja got close, he took a blind swing with the kunai at him, but the ninja just stepped back easily, and plucked the blade out of his hands, twirling it in his grip before he threw it to land in a nearby tree. Now out of options and without a weapon, Inari started to lose his nerve. He turned and ran to the other side of the clearing, trying to find some way to escape and get help.

He didn't have the chance though as the other ninja took that blade and rested it against his mom's throat. "I thought you were going to save this lady here, not run away. It's no matter, we'll just have our fun then come back for you later. So go on, run."

Seeing a drop of blood trickle down the blade, and thinking of how his mom was one step from joining his father, Inari snapped. It was as if he didn't care what happened, his mind was focused solely on that small cut, and it grew into the need to protect her at all costs. He launched himself at the bigger ninja, hardly caring if it was a smart thing to do anymore.

It was all sloppy, and the ninja dodged his attacks with ease, but at least he wasn't hitting back, and maybe he could get a lucky hit in. He HAD to get a hit in, and save her. Luck wasn't with him though, and as he overextended a punch, the ninja grabbed his arm, and surprisingly, gently twisted it behind his back, taking a kunai out so he could see it, but not placing it against his throat. "Your life or hers?"

The question was random, and Inari was thrown off by it. "Wait, what?" He was breathing hard, and having trouble concentrating, but he didn't miss the serious looks he was given. "Your choice. Either we kill you or her, which one is it?"

Inari bit his lip, he was right back where he had started, only now someone was going to die no matter what. He wanted to cry, to fight against it, but he knew that there really wasn't anything he could do anymore. Looking at his mom was enough to help his courage, and he stood up straight, even as he was being held captive and was facing death. "Let her go, you already have me."

The two ninjas looked at each other and nodded, then surprising Inari, disappeared in a puff of smoke. Inari stumbled forward, blinking rapidly and looking around for where they might have disappeared to when his mom sat up, the ropes falling off of her. "Mom?"

"Why did you try to protect me, Inari? I thought you were convinced we would all die anyways." Something wasn't right, and Inari stepped back. It didn't sound like his mom, and deep down he had a sinking suspicion he knew what was happening. "Who are you?"

The person pretending to be his mom disappeared in a puff of smoke, revealing Naruto, sitting there, and watching him with a small grin on his face. Inari felt anger build in him at seeing that he had been tricked. "You kidnapped me to play some sort of joke on me?! Wait until I tell my grandfather, he'll send you back to that village faster than you can blink!"

Naruto stood up, shrugged, then leaned against a tree. "The kidnapping portion was real. You only have yourself to blame for that one. I just saved your sorry ass."

"Then why did you do all this?! Do you enjoy picking on people or something you bully?" Inari yelled. Naruto looked at him, but ignored the question. "You never did answer my question, why did you try and protect your mom?"

Inari turned away and didn't say anything, anger and shame keeping him from talking to the ninja, but he felt Naruto's gaze on him. Eventually the blond walked over to stand beside him. "You know why, don't you?" Inari looked down at the ground. "I couldn't let her die too. I already miss dad so much…" Inari started to cry, "I just had to, you know?" Inari tried to wipe the tears away from his eyes before the ninja noticed, but if he did, he didn't say anything. He had promised himself to not cry, and not to let himself get hurt again, but he couldn't stop himself. Before he knew it, he was on the ground sobbing, and Naruto was sitting down next to him, waiting for him to finish.

Eventually, the tears ran themselves out, and Inari sat there shivering in the cold night air. He felt like he had been washed and left out to dry, though he had to admit it felt good. He had only cried briefly seeing his father's head, and since then had fought back the tears anytime they threatened to come out. This was the first time he really let himself go and let it all out, and he felt a bit lighter because of it.

Shivering again, he was surprised when Naruto took off his dark orange, almost brown coat, and dropped it over Inari's shoulders. It suited him well, Inari had to admit, and matched the rest of his jumpsuit, deep colors that were relaxing and made him think of the woods they were probably used in. He pulled the front close around himself before finding his voice, "You wanted me to let it out, didn't you?"

Naruto shrugged, "Wasn't part of my plan, but I guess it's good for you. Got to remember, I am not all touchy and feely; that's Hinata's specialty. Not that it's bad or anything, even bad ass ninja like me need to let it out sometimes." Naruto laughed, and Inari laughed with him before nodding, and sat there silently for a second. "Then why?"

Naruto gestured to the clearing. "You fought to save your mom, or at least what you thought was her. Even though you say all that stupid crap about not caring if people die, you obviously do. Do you think you could, or should, let your precious people be hurt by others?" Inari shook his head, feeling kind of embarrassed hearing things put that way about how he was acting before.

"You did the right thing back there," Naruto said. "You fought to protect your mom, and it's feelings like that, that will keep everyone safe in the end. You just have to keep trying until you find a way, and if you somehow fail, which you won't", here Naruto grinned at him "then at the very least you know that you did all you could." Inari sat there, thinking about it. He hated himself for how he treated everyone else, and how he had felt trapped by the thought that he couldn't do anything, but Naruto was right. He could still care about everyone, and if anything ever came around to try and hurt them, then he would have to be the one to protect them. It was simple as that, and he was surprised he hadn't figured it out sooner.

"Yeah, you're right." Inari smiled up at him, giving him a giant grin. "Of course I'm right, you little punk. I've had years to think about it, my family, those you've met included, are my precious people, and we're always in danger. I know what it feels like to worry about someone so much you feel like you can't stand under the weight of it."

Inari put his head on his knees, "Mind telling me about them?" The older boy grinned at him, "Thought you'd never ask."

X X X

Hinata nodded to Kakashi, letting him know that the people approaching the cave were indeed Naruto and Inari. He gave her a small wave before going back in to explain the situation to everyone else, and Hinata smiled at the sight of the two walking closer. Inari was riding on Naruto's back, eyes closed in what looked like would be the first night of restful sleep he had had in a long time.

She waved in greeting when Naruto came into the cave, and he nodded, placing Inari a bit further in and making sure he was asleep before coming back over. Hinata tried to hide her blush at his actions, she thought he looked really mature like that, and she couldn't help but imagine how he would be when he had his own family in the future. She was sure he would be an amazing father someday, and it made her blush even more to think about who would be the mother of his children.

Naruto gave her an awkward smile and instead of sitting next to her like he normally would, chose to sit across from her. Hinata didn't say anything, and was actually a bit glad he had put a bit of distance between them. Her cheeks still lit up thinking about how they had woken up that morning, and if he had been any closer, she was sure that her small amount of confidence would have been buried in the wave of embarrassment, and she would be a stuttering mess. She had made a promise to Temari to try and change, and she wouldn't go back on her words.

"Inari-kun looks a lot better than he did a few hours ago, Naruto-kun. Did something happen?" She pulled her knees up and hugged them, getting comfortable. "Nothing too important. We talked, he cried a bit, he figured some stuff out, all thanks to yours truly." Hinata smiled at him, "You're head is going to get too large for your body one of these days, Naruto-kun." He laughed, and scratched his cheek. "Aww, but its true. Enough of that boring stuff, though, how's the bridge coming along?"

"Don't you know from your clones?" she asked. "Yeah, but I wanna hear it from you, we haven't gotten a chance to just relax alone for awhile. I like talking to you like this." Hinata was glad for it being dark, as it hid how badly she was blushing.

"It...it was fun." She stuttered. Hinata took a deep breath, trying to relax before going on. She told Naruto about all the things they had learned from Tazuna about construction, and the kind of things they had to do, even joking a bit how Shikamaru was so lazy he kept trying to ditch work. She even brought up how Kakashi had dropped him into the river once for falling asleep once too often.

"None of my clones saw that. I can't believe I missed his face," Naruto choked out between gasps of laughter. Hinata was laughing as well, "I'm sorry you can't come with us as well."

Naruto shrugged, "Someone has to watch this place. It's boring, but as long as I'm here to help, no one is going to get hurt."

"I hope you'll always be there to help us, Naruto." Hinata had whispered the last part, and Naruto leaned closer. "You say something Hinata?" She shook her head, "It's nothing." She stood up, "I guess it's your turn for watch, make sure to wake me up for my turn, okay?" Naruto nodded, and she gave him a smile before heading in to go to sleep.

Hinata fell asleep blushing thinking how, for some reason, her sleeping bag didn't feel half as comfortable as it had before last night.

X X X

Orochimaru watched the three figures writhing on the floor, kicking them away when their convulsions brought them too close. He doubted they would feel the additional injuries over the pain of a curse seal being placed on them. It was a horrific torture, a pain that washed away all thought and reason and brought out the lesser, more animal side of a person, leaving them craving nothing but release from their agony. None of them had screamed, not once in the last 5 days that they had undergone their punishment and received his mark.

Perhaps they would be useful to him yet, if they still survived.

Orochimaru spent the next few hours pondering over the scrolls he had "liberated" from that dead clan, glad for the detour. They were obscure, and even he found himself rereading portions of the script to try and understand it, but he knew they would be incredibly useful someday. It would probably take him a few years to understand it completely enough to use it, but he had plenty of time.

Near midnight he stopped his work when the thrashing from the three new Chuunin stopped. He grinned at the feeling of three small tugs on his chakra, they were mere drops out of the ocean that was his power, but it was more than enough that they would be able to defeat all those who would stand before them. And if they should not, well, they would regret that curse seal had not killed them.

He turned to look at the three as the faint red chakra of the seal encased their bodies. By tomorrow evening they would be ready for battle, and on the following day, they will go to finish the job they had come here for.

And Orochimaru would be there to watch it.

X X X

Naruto woke up to the smell of Ramen, and he grinned without even opening his eyes yet. It seemed they had finally decided it was time to break with the rations and have a real meal. Jumping out of his sleeping bag, he rushed past a sleepy looking Shikamaru on watch, and waved at Kakashi, before heading out of the cave to get ready for the day.

Taking care of his business and cleaning up, in what he thought was a personal all time record, he made it back inside in time to sit down to a nice cup of ramen with everyone else. He grinned at Tsunami, who had been kind enough to actually make the ramen for them. He had been dropping hints about how amazing the food could be with Inari yesterday in between sparring with the kid. Once the kid had let all of that sulking stop, he was actually pretty fun to be around, and Naruto had even taught the kid some basic self defense, so he could back up his goals to protect people.

All in all, Naruto had to say the mission was going well despite the rocky start. They had agreed to keep an eye open for any further attacks, but they were hoping that the ninjas had just left back for Konoha, and the rest would be simple. At least Naruto was hoping that. Kakashi was being unusually serious and kept on telling them to watch out, which Naruto agreed with, but it was still odd to see the Jounin so serious.

He slapped Shikamaru on the back after he finished, nearly causing the slower eater to lose his food. "Have a good time at the bridge today Shika. Just remember, you don't want to go swimming in that river again, I hear the alligators like you." The shadow user glared at him, but Naruto grinned and stood up.

Focusing on a seal, Naruto made another two dozen clones to go help the others at the bridge. In the next few moments, they had all left with the others, making bets on which could do the most without being dispelled.

Naruto headed over to Inari next, who was sitting alone at the cave of the mouth while his mom cleaned and tried to do her best to prepare a decent meal for dinner with their limited supplies inside. "Want to spar some more?" Inari's grin was infectious, and he couldn't help but match it as he placed a hand on the kid's head and walked with him just outside the cave into a big clearing. The rest of the rock face hid the cave, creating a nice ledge far above them, with thick trees all around for protection.

Naruto was just about to teach Inari some more of the basics when he felt a flare of familiar, yet disturbing, chakra in the woods next to him. Placing a hand on Inari's shoulder, he pushed the boy behind him and turned to face the woods as Kiba walked out of it.

He looked dirty, and tired, but his eyes shone with some sort of wildness to them they hadn't had a few days ago. The biggest difference was the sheer amount of chakra rolling off of him, and frankly, it was such a sharp increase, no matter that he still had more than the boy, it put him on edge.

"Good to see you alive there, Kiba. Had us worried." Kiba laughed in a hollow way, and as he came closer, Naruto saw how he was moving like he had been injured, a shuffling gate. "Unfortunately, I guess I am. Though, I have you to blame for that."

Naruto pushed Inari towards the cave, "You might want to go hang out with your mom for a while, Inari." He started and turned to look behind him quickly when he saw Akamaru, growling near the mouth of the cave. Naruto turned back to Kiba, "What the hell are you playing at Kiba?! And how did you even find us?"

Kiba tapped his nose. "Comes from my clan, and I'm not letting you pull any more tricks out of your ass. I won't hurt the brat, but he isn't going anywhere. I TOLD you that there was no way to escape this, I TOLD YOU!"

Sensing his chakra spike, Naruto pushed Inari out of the way, and started to bring his guard up when he felt a sledgehammer-like punch rock into his gut, and as he flew back, a second hit from behind courtesy of Akamaru sent him flying into a tree. Twisting himself around, he landed on it instead, and pushed off just in time to avoid being hit by another blow. It seemed Kiba wasn't injured enough to not fight, unfortunately.

Naruto sent some chakra to where he felt a few cracked ribs, trusting in his bloodline to work out the details of how to heal it. With a slightly uncomfortable pop, he felt the bones fix themselves, and he took a deep breath. He saw Kiba standing there watching him, Akamaru at his feet, but the thing that worried Naruto was the way he had a faint red halo of chakra rising off his skin.

The curse seal. He had heard about it from his parents, and been warned to be careful if ever fighting someone using it. Taking a moment to finger where he had been hit, he felt the slightly tight feeling of some burns on his stomach. The worst thing was, from what he had been told, he hadn't even begun to really tap into its power, which had Naruto on edge.

'Well shit', he thought. All he had time for was to pull out his trench knives before he was jumping around again, struggling to defend himself. Kiba wasn't even using the abilities he had shown in their first fight, and he was already the clearly better fighter this time around. Only the sheer hours of practice he had were saving him now, and he had to trust his instincts to avoid further injuries.

Naruto ducked under a lunge by Akamaru, and used his knives to deflect a stab from Kiba, and took the chance to cut him across the ribs. Kicking him away, he jumped back, summoning a few dozen clones with the chance he had bought himself. "First blood. Give it up Kiba, my offer still stands, we can help you, even if that bastard snake bit you.

Kiba stood there, holding his side, and after a moment took it away. While the wound hadn't closed, the bleeding had stopped. 'Shit', though Naruto, 'curse seal not only makes the bastard stronger and faster, but he gets to heal quickly too. That is SO unfair.'

"What was that Blondie?" Kiba smirked at him, before reverting to a neutral expression. Naruto and his clones fell into a deeper fighting stance when Kiba started digging in his pack. He had no jutsu that would stop him in time before he used a pill. He watched as the dog caught a pill and started changing into another Kiba.

"You know, I think we could have been friends if things were different." Naruto honestly thought that. The boy was kind of rude and loud, but he didn't doubt he was a good guy too, despite his village. Kiba nodded, "Yeah, so do I. But, I can't ignore my orders even if I wanted to anymore. I know it doesn't mean much anymore, but I'm sorry." The next thing Naruto saw, Kiba started to have dark marks crawl all over his skin, causing the red chakra to darken as flashes of purple entered it.

"At least it's only the first level." One of the clones said, and Naruto snorted. "Yeah, see if you keep saying that after you get hit by it."

Kiba and Akamaru launched themselves at him again, even faster. A few clones jumped forward, trying to slow down the assault, but were mowed down. Deeper in the line of Narutos, the original summoned even more clones, before starting some hand seals. He couldn't dodge something that fast, at least not without plenty of distance between them, so he would have to dig into his bag of tricks.

As Kiba broke through to him, he finished the last seal, and his knives started to produce large gusts of wind that covered his arms, acting as shields to hide behind. He felt more than saw the two hit the shields, and he could feel the tug on his chakra as it drew on more to keep them going, but he took the chance and put chakra into his foot, sending out a front kick into the gut of one Kiba, then side kicked the other so that they went flying back.

Naruto used the chance to summon more clones after most had been destroyed in the first assault. It wasn't a very good plan, but it was better than just standing there and being hit. They lunged at him again, and Naruto stepped back as two clones grabbed their ankles, stopping their motion before the sheer force it took to stop them caused them to disappear. He grinned at Kiba, "Bad Doggy, I thought you were young enough to learn new tricks." With that, two groups of clones took the chance to kick the two high up into the air, as more and more clones kept jumping up to hit them ever higher. Finally at the top of their flight, Naruto jumped up and grabbed both of them by the collars, flipping in the air and throwing them hard into the ground a few dozen feet below them. He felt bad for hurting them, but the curse seal would help their wounds, so he had thrown them as hard as he could.

He landed nearby, and just outside a ring of dust that had gone up around where they had landed. Naruto's first big mistake was thinking that had finished them because from the cloud a foot came out and kicked him hard in the face, breaking his nose and causing him to see stars. The follow up hits blurred into one as Naruto fought to avoid being hit anywhere vital, and just when he thought he was about to be finished, he got a break as Kiba left his stance too wide. Seizing the opportunity, he let himself fall back, but kicked out one his legs on the way down, tripping him, and Naruto rolled back and away.

He knew those wounds would take awhile to heal, he had to buy some time. "Are you just going to let that Snake bastard control you?! Huh? I heard the Inuzukas were proud, I don't see why you would do what he says, seal or not!"

Kiba glared at him, "Do you even understand how much it can hurt to THINK Naruto? I even think of disobeying and it's agony. I just spent the last 6 days suffering from this," at that he pulled down his color to show off a seal on his neck, "this piece of CRAP! And now I am a slave in my own head. I feel it changing me, it's like I can't get enough blood. I want to tear you limb from limb right now, but I don't at the same time. This is why I told you no one can stop that mad man." Kiba was panting, having shouted at Naruto, and Naruto stood there silently, feeling his bones set. Another moment and he could move, maybe not well, but at least better than before.

"I told you I would protect everyone, Kiba. You included. I know I'm not strong enough now, but someday, I will be. I may not know the people in Konoha, but I know what your Kage did to my dad, and what he does to people like you. And I refuse to let someone like that live in the same world as me." Feeling the now familiar pops as multiple bones finished healing, and he stood up. "I never go back on my word, and I WILL change Konoha for the better. So just sit down, shut up, and get prepared to go along for the ride."

Kiba roared, and red chakra flared up around him and Akamaru, Naruto just put out a hand, summoning a clone who helped in creating a Rasengan. Seeing his action, Kiba squatted deep, and Naruto narrowed his eyes, he recognized that stance. A moment later, Akamaru and Kiba had moved to opposite sides of him, and he heard the shout of Gatsuuga without looking up to see anything. Instead he put all of his attention in creating a large and strong Rasengan.

He finished just in time, and stepped back, sure that the two would hit each other, and he thrust his hand out to hit them with the orb of chakra. That was his second mistake, because Naruto quickly discovered that they had gotten much better at maneuvering with this Jutsu with their new seal enhanced abilities, as they turned and came at him from both sides.

Naruto had never been in as much pain in his life. He felt all the injuries he had just healed become undone, and those that hadn't been, grow worse. Burns popped up all over his body, and he could see the blood flying away as they tore at his flesh.

It was over quickly, but Naruto was already injured beyond anything he had ever experienced before, and he didn't think he could just talk his way into buying enough time to heal his wounds. He struggled to get to his knees, and Kiba jeered down at him. "You beat Orochimaru? When you can't even beat me? Don't joke with me, Naruto. This is just the way things have to be."

Naruto laughed, and coughed up a bit of blood. He wiped it away and looked up at Kiba, "I'm not the person who had to use their strongest move, and a curse seal, in a two on one fight." Kiba kicked him then, sending him rolling into a nearby tree. Again Naruto struggled up, this time making it to his feet, even as his bones and joints made sick sounds at the movement, and his face and torso were dripping blood.

"Stay down Naruto." Kiba stalked over to him and punched him, and Naruto fell back down. But even though he wanted nothing more than to stay down, he pushed himself back up, and Kiba only got even angrier. "Why the hell won't you stay down! I don't want to hurt you, you idiot! At least don't make it any harder on yourself!"

Naruto shook his head, trying to get the stars out of his vision. "I told you," he stopped as he coughed up more blood, "I don't go back on my word." Kiba narrowed his eyes, "Fine" he hissed. Naruto saw him pull out a kunai, and couldn't help but laugh. Here he was, in some backwater area, and he was about to get killed by some kid and his dog. He bet Jiraiya would find that hilarious.

He was just bringing up his arms to try and fight, when he saw a blur come at them from the tree, and throw a sloppy kick at Kiba, who jumped out of the way. Naruto blinked a few times before his vision focused enough to see it was Inari, standing in front of him. He had almost forgotten about the boy since Kiba wasn't trying to hurt him, and he guessed the boy had been there the whole time watching them fight. It was too hard to try and remember right now. "I won't let you kill Naruto or anyone else you bully!"

Kiba walked over and plucked the kid up by his jacket. "Stay out of this, and you and your mom can walk away, kid." He threw Inari away, and turned back to Naruto, but as he did, the boy ran up and punched Kiba in the back, causing the boy to grab his hand in pain at the burns the demonic and curse seal chakra produced. Kiba turned around and picked the boy up again. "I told you to stay out of this! You're lucky I'm here, if you were with your grandfather we wouldn't be able to save you, so shut up and let me just get this over with!" With that, he threw the boy again, not hard enough to injure him, but he wouldn't be getting up to help again any time soon.

That made Naruto stop. He had been so engrossed with trying to stop Kiba and protect everyone here, he had forgotten about the others. If he was being attacked, it wasn't unlikely they were as well. And whoever had helped them would probably be there, someone who could avoid any notice from Kakashi's trained eye.

Naruto forced as much chakra into his bloodline as possible, a trick he had picked up from his fight with Gaara. Auntie Tsunade had yelled at him for weeks for doing that, saying it could kill him, but he had no choice. If he used this when he was already too injured, he stood the chance of burning out his chakra coils. That could lead to him being unable to move for a few weeks in the best of circumstances, to dying in the worst. He ignored that now, though, He HAD to go to that bridge.

Feeling everything heal enough that he could fight again, Naruto was glad that he hadn't done more damage than good this time around. He ran over and caught Inari before he even touched the ground, surprising Kiba that he had been able to move again. Taking the moment of surprise, he summoned as many clones as he could, all standing around the boy protectively. "One last attack, Kiba. I'm going to end this fight here and then go save everyone, even your friends, and then we'll see if it's just words."

Kiba frowned, "Fine, it's your funeral, idiot." He jumped back to stand next to Akamaru, and Naruto knew it was going to be the Gatsuuga again, his strongest attack. Naruto waited until he had begun the technique before starting his Rasengan, reaching even deeper into his stores of chakra.

"That won't work, Naruto." Kiba said. Naruto ignored him, and he felt all of his clones building up chakra around him as well, and they stared down the oncoming Gatsuuga. Naruto had to admit he found it ironic how the end of the fight was coming down to them pitting their strongest moves against one another again, only this time it was Naruto who was in the do or die situation.

His chance to contemplate it was short though, and right before Kiba got there, he nodded, and all the clones and himself raised up a hand with a large Rasengan sitting in their palms. They formed a dome around himself and Inari, and even Kiba couldn't dodge it as he and Akamaru plowed into it, and for a horrible moment Naruto thought the clones with disappear under the stress of the attack, but in an explosive burst of chakra, they sent the dog user flying back, who flew through not one, but three trees, before slumping to the ground, unconscious.

He had done it. He had defeated his first opponent who used that weird demonic chakra, even if it had taken a lot more out of him than he would have liked. He didn't have time to celebrate though, as two dozen memories all flashed into his head, of a man dressed in the robes used for the Hokage of Konoha. Black, and covered in a deep red that symbolized the bloody fate of all those who would dare cross him.

X X X

I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter. I had a lot of fun writing this one, and I actually like the balance of it. Some fighting, setting the stage for later Naru/Hina goodness, and character development. The next chapter will probably be one big fight, so for those who felt like they didn't get enough in the way of combat, you'll get your wish next chapter.

I also got a private message asking about somethings that I bring up in the story, without giving much detail on, and then promptly ignore. I realize I am doing this. To the characters, these things are not too important, and they don't always think or recollect on it. They will be addressed in due time.

Also, expect more familiar faces to pop up eventually. In a few chapters you will understand one of the overlying concepts behind this story, and I am looking forward to getting there. There will be some big moments in this story, and I hope you all enjoy them.

Not much else to say except to thank everyone for their reviews. It is nice to know that people enjoy reading my work. It was mostly a small idea I figured I would enjoy writing while I worked on my writing style, and it's starting to become a much bigger project than I expected it would be.

That said, more reviews is always better. So tell me what you think. Love it, hate it (at least say why), let me know.

Now I am off to Uni before I end up being late. Stay Safe and have a great day.


	16. Battle at the Bridge

I know, this took some time to complete. I apologize about the delay. My professors felt we should have big tests right before finals. So the past month has been one examination after the other. I am also busy preparing for moving to Japan for my year abroad, so it's needless to say I've been busy.

I hope you enjoy the chapter, so without further adieu, let's have at it.

All rights to those who did the work in the first place to earn them.

Rekindle: Battle at the Bridge

Kakashi felt the attack coming. There was no other way to describe it, and he had learned in the last war to trust those feelings of peril. He replaced himself with an iron beam nearby just in time to avoid being caught by a fire jutsu. Kakashi frowned as a few clones were caught in the attack, but was glad to see most of them had managed to avoid it.

Sparing a glance for the others, he saw that Hinata and Shikamaru were ushering Tazuna into a safe point they had established earlier, even as two figures approached them. Kakashi's guess was that those would be the genin from before, though as he feared, he felt the taint on their chakra even from this far away. There was little he could do about it in the face of this unknown opponent, but that didn't stop him from worrying.

"Naruto, stay back. We're going to need your help, and once we've seen this guy, I want you to go back to warn the real Naruto." Kakashi spoke to the nearest clone, who just nodded seriously, never stopping its survey of the area, hoping to spot the attacker.

A voice came from behind Kakashi, "I never thought I would find you here, Kakashi. How lucky I am that I came to such a remote place." The voice was smooth, and cold, and could only belong to one man that Kakashi knew of.

Forcing himself to remain calm, Kakashi turned to stare at Orochimaru. "And I never imagined myself unlucky enough to have to see you again, Orochimaru." Orochimaru gave him a cold smile, and Kakashi did nothing to hide his Sharingan activating. Kakashi watched Orochimaru for a moment, waiting to see if he would attack, but when he kept standing there Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Just making sure people like you aren't left alone with children." That earned him a glare, and Kakashi tried to ignore the slight rise in killer intent. He tried to keep the calm look on his face; antagonizing a Sannin with a demon inside of them, while it felt good, was not an idea that someone who wanted to live a long life should have.

"You had so much potential, Kakashi, yet look at you now. Babysitting that coward's son." Kakashi let the comment slide, instead taking a quick glance at the clones nearest him. They seemed frozen by the Chakra and youki, and Kakashi was about to order them back when he caught a flash of movement from Orochimaru. Leaping back, he expected to be dodging an attack, but realized he had been fooled when he saw the remaining clones explode as another fireball landed in their ranks.

Kakashi kept a lid on his temper. Even though they were just clones, they could have been the real thing just as easily, and Orochimaru had killed the clones without a shred of hesitation. "Why are you here, Orochimaru?"

Orochimaru smirked, "Power, and an army of my own ninja, all under my command." At that, Kakashi felt the genin Orochimaru had brought with him release their curse seals as well, and Kakashi's heart sank. He had no idea how they were supposed to make it out of this fight alive, both him and the kids were in way over their heads.

Kakashi didn't have any more time to worry though, as he began to try and evade Orochimaru's attacks. He had to survive and push back the Sannin somehow, or all they had worked towards in the past decade would be destroyed.

X X X

Naruto collapsed to his knees as the memories came rushing back, barely holding himself up as he panted. Even the memory of so much chakra being directed at him, not to mention the killing intent, had left him breathless. After a deep shuddering breath he turned over and sat down on the ground, placing his back against a nearby tree for support. He wanted to move, to yell and curse their bad luck, but he was just so tired that it was taking his best effort just to not drift into unconsciousness.

He closed his eyes, focusing on his bloodline ability. Normally, he didn't worry too much about how his bloodline decided to heal him, not caring to put in the effort to worry about it as long as it worked. But he didn't have time for that. Instead Naruto focused it to the worst of the wounds, feeling his chakra fight back at being forced away from the injuries it had already started to heal. It also worried him how much less of it there was than usual; not only was there more damage than he could hope to fix in a few moments time, but he was low on chakra to boot. 'Just great.' he thought. 'If that was what a genin could do with that freaking meat grinder jutsu of his, I'm scared to see what a jounin is capable of. Naruto started chuckling humorlessly at his own joke, but stopped when Inari picked his way over to him.

"Naruto, are you...okay?" Inari stayed a couple feet away, like if he got any closer his words alone would be able to injure him further. Naruto cracked open an eye and looked at him, "Yeah, never felt better." His voice came out cracked, "Inari, go grab my pack, and don't tell your mom what happened." Inari stared at him for a moment before running back into the cave. Naruto used the chance to go back to work on healing himself, and tried not to grimace when he realized how much internal damage had been done.

A few moments later Inari was next to him with his pack, and Naruto sat up a bit straighter, rummaging through the pack on his lap as he took out his supplies. He made sure to bring a lot of first aid items, but didn't use any for himself. He hoped the others wouldn't need them, and had to force himself to ignore what could happen to them by the time he got there. He was already wasting too much time as it is, but his body just refused to listen to him. He would have to find some other way to get himself ready to fight again.

"Inari, take this and tie up dog breath over there, then bring me the pouch on his belt. And hurry up." Naruto handed the boy a length of wire from the pack, and though he looked doubtful, Inari ran over to do what was asked, and came back with what Naruto had asked for. Naruto looked inside and was glad to see various ninja tools, and then at the bottom, what he had been looking for.

Naruto pulled out the soldier pills, surprised at how quantity and the quality. He didn't know much about this kind of thing, but he knew it wasn't cheap. No matter what he thought of Kiba, he couldn't accuse him of skimping on his supplies! He didn't feel bad though about taking them from him, and ate one, feeling a bit more vitality enter him. Pushing himself to his feet, he took a moment to steady himself before looking at Inari.

"Look. I need to go to the bridge to help everyone, so you stay here and protect your mom, just like you showed me you would a few days ago. I'm going to leave a clone here, and if anything happens, he'll know what to do." Inari looked a bit green around the gills, but Naruto placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him a grin. "You already saved my life, so don't worry, I know you can do this." Naruto stepped back, and made a clone, nodding once to it before he jumped into the trees, heading towards the bridge. He pushed himself to go faster than he ever had before in reaching it, feeling his body rebel against the exercise after such a brutal fight.

He had to believe that it would be worth it.

X X X

Hinata slowly circled Tenten, hoping to stall for time as she brainstormed for some way to avoid the inevitable conflict peacefully. Tenten was too well trained, and Hinata couldn't spot a flaw in her guard so early in the fight as to end things decisively. She frowned, thinking how Kushina-san or even Temari might have had a better way to end the fight quickly, while Hinata herself was unsure of how to finish the fight fast enough that she could help Shikamaru-kun and Kakashi-san before things got out of hand.

Tenten gave her a weak smile, though she looked as gloomy as Hinata felt. "Boys." Tenten said as she nodded towards where Shikamaru and Shino were standing off, and Hinata inclined her head, but didn't respond. She trusted Shikamaru more than to think he was fighting Shino because he wanted to prove himself, he just simply wasn't the best match against Tenten and that weird cursed Chakra she was producing. Perhaps Hinata would have been better suited to fighting Shino as well, but she listened to Shikamaru's judgment when he had claimed Shino as his opponent.

"Tenten-san, please, we can leave here without fighting. I know this isn't like you." Even as she said it, the words sounded empty to Hinata. Maybe Naruto could have inspired hope with them, but not Hinata. She couldn't help thinking back to the things Shino had said in their last fight, and how they had already failed these people once before. There was no reason for Tenten to believe in what she said, but instead of mocking her, Tenten just gave her a brittle smile.

"You're sweet Hinata-san. I'm so sorry about this, but I'm kind of stuck like this, you know?" Tenten wiped at the moisture in her eyes, and her voice was cracking up. She also suspect Tenten was already hurt. She looked like she hadn't slept in days, and her voice sounded raw from what must have been screaming. It was enough to make Hinata's heart ache for her.

"Tenten-san..." Hinata started, before Tenten interrupted her. "I don't want to do this anymore, any of it. All I wanted was to help people." Hinata's stomach gave another uncomfortable jolt at hearing her so broken. She hardly knew the girl and it just seemed wrong to hear her this way.

Hinata took a step towards her when Tenten fell to her knees, holding her head as she shouted in pain. Unsure what to do, Hinata started to rush to her side when she felt a breath of wind caress her cheek, and she could see with her Byakugan a glowing red kunai sticking out from the tree behind her head. What she assumed was youki ate at the tree, destroying the chakra there, making Hinata sick to watch it destroy the very essence of the wood.

"You have to die..." Tenten's voice floated to Hinata's ears, low and more animalistic than before, a sign that the demonic chakra had forced it's way out and had destroyed Tenten's reasoning. Hinata was about to make a plea to stop, when a roar ripped it's way out of Tenten, forcing Hinata to go on the defensive as the girl launched herself into motion.

From every direction weapons were flying at Hinata. The sheer number and variety of objects Tenten had converted into projectile weaponry was overwhelming. The worst part was how very fast they all were, and the glow of youki inside of them as made them almost blinding to look at. Hinata knew she was locked in a deadly dance where one misstep would lead to her demise, and it was taking all the agility and skills of her bloodline to avoid being injured. She didn't doubt one direct hit from any of those would be deadly.

Yet Hinata couldn't help but be amazed at how graceful Tenten seemed. She floated around Hinata and managed to do things with basic kunai that made her jealous. She didn't doubt if Tenten were to meet Kushina, who was a master of the sword, the two would be hit with an instant comradeship.

Hinata stopped running for a moment to spin on the ball of her feet, ducking down low to avoid a senbon aimed at her neck, and grabbed a kunai that had been thrown with the intent to hit Hinata in the legs. Using the remainder of her spin, she threw the Kunai back at Tenten, hoping to catch her off guard by the counterattack with her own weapon.

She wasn't in luck though as Tenten copied her strategy, plucking the kunai out of the air and sending it back even faster than she had before. She even had time to add two more youki filled kunai to the attack while she had spun around.

Hinata only had enough time to dodge two of the kunai after being caught flat footed, and leaned to the side as quickly as she could, only receiving a slight scratch on her shoulder from the third. Despite being such a minor wound, Hinata felt a burning sensation begin to radiate away from the wound, moving slowly into her chest and down her arm. She didn't have to look to see the kind of damage even such a small amount of youki could do to her system if she let it go, so Hinata used the cover of Tenten's next attack to Kawarimi out of sight, gaining herself a moment's respite.

She didn't waste any time, using chakra to push out the youki through the wound before it spread any further, and for safety's sake, she healed the scratch using a jutsu. Leaning against the metal beam, Hinata took a shuttering breath. Pushing out the youki from her coils took a lot of effort, and she felt slightly nauseous from thinking about something so evil inside of her. The thought made her heart go out to the three Genin who had to deal with it inside of them, and used the back of her sleeve to wipe away the tears that threatened to come out. She was about to shake her head and dispel the thoughts when it struck her.

She hadn't seen Kiba. She didn't doubt Shikamaru had figured it out instantly, but Hinata had been so flustered by their reappearance, and the curse seal they had, that she hadn't questioned it. The only other place he could be, if not helping that strange man fight Kakashi, was dead, injured, or worst yet, where Naruto-kun was.

If the other two hadn't died from the curse seal being placed on them, she didn't think Kiba would have been as well, which left the final option, and Hinata couldn't shake the feeling that something horrible had happened to Naruto-kun. He was very strong, but if he underestimated the Inuzuka for even a moment it could be a horrible mistake now that they had this horrible seal on them.

Hinata bit her lip, then taking a deep breath, steeled herself for what she had to do. She couldn't let this fight go on much longer, not only because she stood the risk of making a mistake herself, but because she had to find a way to help Naruto-kun.

Standing up, Hinata drew on the remaining supplies in her utility pouch, watching as Tenten stalked ever closer to her position. It only took a moment to find the proper place for her to begin her attack from, and once Tenten had moved into the right position, she stepped out into the open.

Hinata could see that the new look of determination on her face unsettled Tenten, and she felt a bit proud at being able to unnerve her. Taking her entire brace of smoke bombs, Hinata threw them at the ground near Tenten's feet, covering the entire portion of the bridge they were standing on in a thick cloud of smoke.

Hinata smiled slightly, as she saw Tenten leap backwards out of the cloud. The smoke didn't stop her Byakugan from peering through it, and Tenten seemed to realize this, and to her credit, moved back beyond the smoke to give herself time to react to any attack.

Running around to a better angle, Hinata started throwing Kunai at Tenten, aiming in such a way that she herded Tenten into the right spot, pushing her back up against a set of crates. Taking a length of wire, Hinata quickly threaded it through the end of her last kunai and threw it with all of her strength at Tenten, straight towards her chest.

Tenten didn't disappoint Hinata, and Hinata gave a silent sigh of relief as she caught it out of the air, saving herself serious injury.

Hinata only had a second before Tenten found the wire on the end of the weapon, and her eyes widened in realization a moment before Hinata sent chakra through the wire, and sent it up into Tenten. She felt a bit of resistance before she pushed more chakra into the attack, and she could see how her chakra had overloaded Tenten's coils up and down her arm and into her side. It wouldn't permanently injure her, or stop her from fighting, but at least it would make things simpler now.

"Will you yield Tenten-san?" Hinata called out to the girl, and was answered by a Kunai that went wide. Tenten seemed thrown off by the loss of the use of her dominant hand, and Hinata intended to push her advantage.

Using a kawarimi, Hinata replaced herself with a length of wood behind Tenten, and snuck up behind Tenten, intending to end the fight with a well placed Jyuuken strike. Just as she was about to get into range though, Tenten whipped around, a glowing red wakizashi along her forearm in the left hand, and Hinata had to jump back to avoid being hit.

Hinata frowned. She had to hurry up and win this fight without permanently injuring Tenten, the images of Naruto and Shikamaru being injured spurring her back into the fight with renewed vigor.

X X X

Shikamaru frowned as the crate he had kicked up into the path of bugs was devoured in the span of a few seconds. It wouldn't have just been troubling to get caught in a wave of those things, he would probably have all of his chakra and life energy drained from him before he could mouth the word troublesome.

Jumping back, he avoided another swipe by the wave of insects, and performing a quick seal set a nearby crate on fire, making sure to place it between him and the insects. From what Hinata had told him, these insects were faster and hardier than the one's from before, and Shikamaru didn't doubt it was in part due to the influence of the cursed chakra bleeding through the bond with their master.

Twisting around, he saw two great arms of insects looking to pin him in from both sides, and made a quick decision. Shikamaru back flipped over the burning crate, and kicked it up towards where the two walls would meet, and taking out an explosive note, threw it at the burning box, causing an explosion that took out a large number of the insects with it. Jumping to a safer portion of the bridge, he put his hands back in his pockets and watched Shino turn to face him.

Shino seemed to be glaring at him, so Shikamaru just shrugged. "Not like you aren't destroying them yourself." Shino blinked, and perhaps for the first time took a real look at his surroundings. It took the boy a moment to force down the chakra from his seal before he could ignore the destructive urges from the seal, and Shikamaru waited there watching him as he regained his composure. Shino turned to face some of the bugs floating behind him, a few more bugs exploded in little purple and black light as the chakra from the curse seal became too much for them.

'Those insects are not made to handle that much chakra.' Shikamaru thought dispassionately. He knew it callous of him, but it still was a weapon being used against him and he didn't feel ashamed for destroying them in order to save himself.

Seeing Shino raise a hand to his face caused Shikamaru to tense, expecting an attack to come towards him, but even after a few moments, none came, and Shikamaru let himself relax a bit, trying to take in the situation. Shino was covering his face, but Shikamaru could just make out the irregular rise and fall of his shoulders. Shino was crying. It was faintly disturbing to see what seemed to be a normally stoic individual, lose his composure and cry in front of an opponent.

Taking pity on the boy, he started forming hand seals for a simpler shadow bind technique. He would end the fight quickly, and absolve the boy of any later guilt, and besides, it obviously was in his best interests to end the fight quickly too.

He was just about to finish when he felt a burst of what could only be described as evil chakra from where Hinata was fighting Tenten, and he lost his concentration on the technique. Looking over, he saw Hinata further down the bridge, dodging what looked to be a near non-stop barrage of weapons, coming from every angle, each one glowing slightly. Shikamaru swallowed deeply, somewhat glad he wasn't the one having to fight Tenten right now, even though he worried for Hinata. She seemed to be doing well for herself at the moment, but Shikamaru knew that things could change quickly. Hinata, and most likely Naruto, were facing dangerous opponents. He hated getting involved in anything annoying or dangerous, but if his brainpower could help find a way for them to survive, he would do it in a heartbeat.

Turning back to Shino, Shikamaru's eyes widened as Shino's own chakra began to turn red, and cursed when the color suddenly started to come off of the bodies of his bugs. Whatever had triggered the use of youki in Tenten seemed to have set Shino off, and destroyed his ability to reason and feel guilty once more.

Making the hand seals for his clan's binding jutsu's, he had just enough time to stop the swarm of bugs reaching him, as well as to connect the shadow to Shino. Breathing a sigh of relief, he focused on pushing enough chakra into the technique to hold them. That weird youki of his was making it difficult to hold the bugs and their user at bay.

Taking an experimental step back, he saw Shino do the same, but even better was the fact that the bugs moved with Shino, retreating with him as a whole. Controlling any one insect was impossible, but at least he could do this much. Taking a moment to think it over, he came up with the best plan he could, and stepped back to the edge of the bridge. Smirking at Shino, Shikamaru leaned back and fell off the edge.

Making sure to connect his shadow to the one cast by the bridge, he managed to hold onto Shino long enough for them both to be submerged in the river, along with the bugs.

When they had covered the major clans of Konoha, Jiraiya had been clear about including the weaknesses that came with each. While the Aburame's could control virtually an entire army of insects, from a single bug to the entire hive, they had trouble defending against direct attacks on the bugs. They were not very hearty creatures, and it required a creative individual, a sure sign that the more talented bug users were not as uncreative as rumors spoke of, to use them to their best advantage.

The result of having the entire mass of insects submerged was immediately apparent. The bugs were floundering in the water, and they had stopped feeding off the youki from their master, leaving Shino without their help.

Pulling himself onto the top of the river, Shikamaru jumped back up onto the bridge, and waited for Shino to do the same, leaning against a nearby crate to stare up and the clear blue sky. The sun was in just the wrong place to be of much help to him, but at least it was a nice day to watch the occasional cloud float by, and that helped him to think clearly. He didn't doubt that the Aburame had some other means of protecting himself, as they would be the most aware of the dangers should their bugs be destroyed. The question was what form would it take. He remembered Jiraiya briefly mentioning a weapon style unique to their clan, but had hadn't seemed to find it important beyond mentioning it at the time.

He saw out of the corner of his eye how Shino jumped back up onto the bridge and watched him. Shikamaru didn't make any move to stop him, instead waiting to see what he would do. Despite having taken his bugs out of the fight, Shikamaru knew he wasn't a very good fighter. He would rather react and surprise his enemy.

"You didn't kill them." Shino's voice was quiet, and though it could have been a sign of gratitude, the flat tone made it hard to tell. Shikamaru looked Shino in the eyes and shrugged. "I don't plan on killing you, so why should I leave you without your companions for later?"

Shino nodded, but didn't say anything more, instead reaching into his trench coat to withdraw two kama before sliding into a deep back stance, both blades held out at his sides like wings.

'That would explain the weapon style' Shikamaru thought. Sighing, Shikamaru dug out two knives from his pouch, and held them pressed against his forearms as he slid into a fighting stance.

From there the next few moments became a giant blur to Shikamaru as he struggled to avoid or guard against the attacks Shino employed. Each time he left an opening, he silently counted his blessings that Shino seemed to be equally new to this fighting style. For now Shikamaru was glad he could keep up with the youki enhanced genin.

Shikamaru ducked under a slash from one kama, and brought his arms into a low checking block to stop the second from rising into his groin. Jumping back to give himself space, he formed a seal and caused his shadow to spread out in a wide arc in front of him, hoping to catch Shino in it. Before he could though, Shino managed to kawarimi behind him, and Shikamaru rolled forward, as a kama came at his back. He didn't manage to clear the entire length of the blade, and earned a deep cut on his lower back for it.

Pushing himself up to his feet, he got into a shaky stance, ignoring the pain in his back. Shino just stood there watching him, and Shikamaru felt a slight spark of annoyance build inside of him at it. Taking a deep breath, he pushed aside the useless reaction, and tried to focus on the fight, and less on his frustrations.

Instead he watched Shino as he moved, watching how he often moved both an arm and leg in tandem. His attacks too had a sort of pattern to them, either trying to pincer him in or to strike as if to sting him with his kama. He wasn't surprised that the form adapted elements of the insects he allied himself with, but the movements were so similar it left little room for that creative genius they normally employed when commanding their bugs to attack. The entire style was a straightforward tactic, hoping to wear the opponent down and break their defenses in parts through many smaller attacks.

Shikamaru frowned, hoping Naruto would never see what was about to happen here. It was perhaps the Nara blood in him, but he preferred subtlety to aggressive tactics, and believed a well-developed plan could take care of anything. Seeing as he didn't have any opportunity to trick and capture Shino in any feasible manner, he would have to fight against his style in the most effective manner possible.

Seeing Shino step in to attack, both Kama's coming in from the sides at once, Shikamaru sighed and stepped into the attack, turning his body sideways as he slammed an elbow into Shino's face, sending him sprawling back. Not wanting to lose his advantage, he spun and brought up his leg to deliver a spinning back kick to the boy's stomach, folding him over, finally using an axe kick to the back of his head to knock the boy down to the ground.

Instead of defending and waiting for Shino to wear him down, he would simply have to overwhelm him with his own attacks. A bug may be able to attack quite well, but it left itself virtually unprepared to try and defend itself.

It briefly entered his mind to finish the fight as Shino was getting up, but the boy hadn't pressed his advantage when he tagged his back, and he had been brought up to fight fair, even if it was troublesome. Still, fair and sneaky were two different things, and Shikamaru liked to believe he was no one's fool.

Before Shino had managed to get his bearings, Shikamaru had used his capture technique on Shino, stepping closer before exerting full control over him, using his proximity to make his hold stronger.

'Well, that was easier than I thought.' Thought Shikamaru, but looking at the bland look on Shino's face, a worried feeling entered his gut. A tingling of chakra on his back made Shikamaru turn around to see a large amount of now dry and youki fed kikai bugs hovering right behind him, too close to avoid.

'Temari is going to be so pissed.' thought Shikamaru.

X X X

Naruto burst through the clearing that put him on a ridge near the bridge, stopping to grab his side to try and ease the pain in his ribs as he breathed. He twitched when he felt another powerful burst of chakra coming from the bridge. This was no time to be resting.

He took off at a run, hoping against hope that everyone could hold on for just another few minutes until he got there.

X X X

Hinata was kneeling near a box, using it to hold herself up as she panted, watching Tenten doubled over nearby, hands on her knees as she struggled to catch her breath as well. They both had taken injuries, and Hinata was almost out of chakra from having to force the youki out of her body every time she took even a small cut from Tenten's weapon.

Hinata pushed herself up to her feet shakily, and Tenten slowly straightened. A strange drive had filled Hinata's being, and she wasn't going to let it go and give in to her exhaustion. She could end this fight with one more attack, and she was determined to do so.

Thinking back, she was glad about the painstaking hours it had taken to develop this technique. It had begun as a fusion of the medical jutsus she had learned from Tsunade, and the exploration of her own bloodline. The concept of manipulating the core of someone's chakra to help in healing was a basic practice in medical ninjutsu. The medic would either use it to increase the effectiveness of a jutsu, or to dampen the patient's chakra so it would receive the foreign chakra easier.

Using that concept, Hinata had used her byakugan to see was how a person's hara, the place where the core of a human's chakra resided, was connected to the eight gates that housed the most dense collection of tenketsu in any one place on the body. With the right amount of chakra inserted into these key points it was possible to essentially "turn off" a person's ability to use chakra for anywhere from a few hours to a few days. It went beyond blocking the points on the body and ruining their control, this technique would forcibly keep someone from drawing on any chakra beyond the amount just needed to live off of.

This method was easier, as it was larger target, and meant that someone couldn't forcibly open their tenketsu, but required a greater deal of practice to make a short tap to their tenketsu act like a slower acting medical jutsu designed to shut down the production of chakra at it's source. One had to have very good control and knowledge of medical jutsu as well to make the jyuuken strike travel so deep into their chakra system.

If she made a mistake she could easily damage the person's inner coil system and cause a long drawn out painful death for the person as their body withered away without chakra to keep it alive.

It was Hinata's invention with the purpose to find a peaceful solution to conflicts. Killing was not the solution to all of the problems a ninja faced, and she refused to shy away from hard work to try and save those lives she could.

Hinata pushed off, and launched herself at Tenten, who raised her wakizashi up to defend herself. The youki was much less apparent now as Hinata began to cut off the flow of chakra and youki alike through her body. It was still deadly, but Hinata was willing to take bigger risks now that the fight was nearing its end. She had closed all but the very last gate on Tenten, and perhaps Tenten realized this because she had become much more concerned with her defense over the past few moments of their fighting.

Hinata ducked as Tenten took a slice at her head, and was forced to flip over Tenten a moment later as Tenten reversed the motion and turned it into a slice at her knees. As she performed the flip she placed two glowing fingers into the girls shoulder blade, and the weapon dropped out of her now numb hand.

Landing she turned in time to see a youki encased fist heading right for her chest. Hinata had just enough time to realize the trouble she was in before it collided, and sent her flying back to hit a crate, where she heard her own ribs snap as they broke. She also was pretty sure that there was damage to her breastbone, because she could feel the slight heat of the youki still radiating out from her chest.

Lying there, it took all of her will power to not give in to the pain and pass out. She couldn't give up, not when she was so close to being able to help the others. She should have expected something like that; Tenten was too skilled a kunoichi to let herself be defeated just because she dropped her weapon.

Raising her head up, she saw Tenten walking closer, and Hinata began to wonder if she had been able to really help anyone at all.

X X X

Kakashi had spared a few glances along the course of his fight to make sure Hinata and Shikamaru were fine, and was proud at how well they were handling themselves against their opponents. Those children from Konoha were well trained, and with the curse seal on them, they were dangerous opponents, yet his own Genin team of sorts was proving to be up for the challenge. He also had no doubts that whatever had happened with Naruto, he too would find a way to make it out alright. That boy had to be one of the most determined people he knew, and didn't doubt he would take be able to defeat Kiba.

Jumping out of the way of a snake summon, Kakashi threw a kunai into it's eye, killing the creature instantly. Kakashi wasn't so lucky to get someone new to their power, and he wasn't going to fool himself into thinking he was winning this fight.

He had avoided serious injury so far, but Orochimaru seemed to be without the ability to tire, and Kakashi would have to make a mistake soon. He couldn't fool himself into believing he was as skilled as Minato was, and Minato had always valued Orochimaru as a worthy opponent. So Kakashi was trying to find a way to force a stalemate, the problem was, he couldn't figure out how.

Making a set of handseals quickly, Kakashi performed a technique to spread poison gas around himself, not strong enough to be lethal, for he was sure the Snake sannin of all people would be prepared for such a thing, but enough to throw off his senses. The technique wasn't any use though as Orochimaru managed to outrun the wall of gas, and ran up the nearest pillar to avoid it, leaping at the apex towards Kakashi, his Kusanagi sword poking out of his mouth once more to try and impale Kakashi.

Sidestepping, Kakashi made to use a knifehand to the sannin's neck as he passed, but the man seemed to expect that. Bringing his own arm up, Orochimaru grabbed Kakashi's wrist, and tugging on Kakashi's arm, sent him flying towards a nearby pillar. Spinning in the air, Kakashi grabbed on to it with chakra, performing a fire jutsu as soon as he landed, and aimed it for where Orochimaru was heading.

He saw the man pass through the fire, though he doubted he had been lucky enough to truly hit Orochimaru. Kakashi jumped away from the pillar just as a burnt log that had been used as a kawarimi came out of the flames and Orochimaru appeared where Kakashi had just been standing.

The two stood there watching each other for a moment before Orochimaru smirked. "You've gotten better Kakashi. I see that lovely eye of yours has taken you far."

Kakashi shrugged, "It helps, but the rest of it is hard work. Something you wouldn't understand I'm afraid." Orochimaru laughed, "Ah yes, hard work. The tool of the weak so that they can play at being something they are not. Like those children over there. They were born to such powerful families, yet look at them, left to fester in their own ignorance of what they could be, trying to learn through your so called hard work. And they will die, because they were not born powerful enough to hope to defeat even the weakest who follow me."

Kakashi glared at Orochimaru, but turned to look despite himself. What he saw made his heart leap into his throat. Poised over both of his genin were what looked to be their deaths.

He spun back to face Orochimaru, who was grinning. "No time Kakashi, No time."

Kakashi ignored him, and began to run towards the two, ignoring the face that he knew there was no way he would make it in time.

X X X

Naruto broke out into the clearing a moment before Hinata and Shikamaru were cornered. He let out a sigh of relief as he saw how well they were doing, and the damage they had caused. It looked like they were going to be okay, but in the span of a second, it all changed for the worse.

From behind Shikamaru he saw a cloud of red begin to rise over the edge of the bridge as bugs came in to fight, and he saw the glow of Tenten's fist just as Hinata began to turn around. He even felt as if he watched in slow motion how Tenten's fist connected with Hinata and send her flying back.

From where he was, all he could see was Hinata bounce off a reinforced crate, and collapse to the ground at its base. Naruto wasn't sure what happened next, but by the time he had thought about it, it was already over. He remembered pulling out a kunai and hurling it at the ground near Hinata, forming seals and concentrating on his chakra even as the seal etched into the blade moved further away from him. The next thing he knew was he was standing here, standing between Hinata and Tenten.

Letting out an animal-like yell that stopped Tenten in her tracks, Naruto took the opportunity to take out a kunai with an explosive note he had taken from Kiba's supplies and threw it at Shino's bugs without letting his glare leave Tenten. He knew he hit it when he saw the red glow in the corner of his eyes disappear, and stared at the girl in front of him. She had hurt Hinata, and he wasn't going to let her get away with that.

He was about to jump in to attack when he felt a hand grab his shirt from behind and pull him back, and from behind him Hinata jumped out, and stumbled forward, surprising Tenten and Naruto before slapping a glowing hand to Tenten's lower abdomen, then falling back down to the ground.

Tenten seemed to blink in surprise as the chakra surrounding her suddenly disappeared, then slowly Naruto saw her eyes roll up into her head as she fainted. Naruto recognized the results of having one's inner coils blocked, and realized Hinata had made him spare Tenten so she could finish sealing the girls chakra.

Naruto blinked, unsure of what to do now when he heard Shikamaru cough near him causing him to jumped, and ran to Hinata's side. "Hinata?! Are you okay? Hinata!" Hinata smiled up at him, "I am." She looked him over, and then frowned, "What about you Naruto-kun? You look like you were hurt..."

Naruto grinned to try and put her at ease. "Just a couple of scratches. You don't look so hot yourself either." Naruto took a moment to look her over for other injuries, and when he looked back at Hinata's face, she was blushing a deep crimson and avoided his eyes. Naruto couldn't help but grin at that. He wasn't sure what had set her off this time, but no matter the circumstances, Hinata always stayed the same, and it made Naruto feel good to know that.

Naruto turned to look at Shikamaru who was frowning at something over Naruto's shoulder, and Naruto could see Shino unconscious farther down the bridge behind Shikamaru. He would be willing to bet Shikamaru had used that odd jutsu of his to strangle the boy into passing out.Looking to see what had Shikamaru so bothered, he saw Kakashi heading towards them. A moment later the jounin stopped next to them, slightly out of breath, and Naruto realized he had forgotten about the man Kakashi was fighting. Giving Kakashi a worried look, the jounin shook his head, and Naruto tensed. Orochimaru was still somewhere around here, and evidently enough of a match to leave even Kakashi tired and bruised.

Standing up and gripping a kunai, Naruto and Kakashi stood guard over the other two, who seemed too tired to do so themselves. Naruto also felt his wounds, but the adrenaline he felt from his fear was keeping him from giving in to his exhaustion.

Naruto kept his eyes open, scanning the shore and the bridge, yet finding nothing. He couldn't even feel a trace of the chakra that his clones had felt earlier. He doubted Orochimaru could have used up that much chakra, so that meant he was hiding, but where?

Just as he was about to ask Kakashi if they could just take Tazuna, who was still hiding in a corner, and go for now, he heard two muffled thumps from behind him. Turning around, he saw a kunai sticking out of the stomachs of Hinata and Shikamaru, both of whom were staring down at shock at the wounds. Feeling himself start to panic he looked up to see Kakashi's equally horrified expression meet his own.

The sound of soft laughter reached them, and at the top of a nearby support beam was Orochimaru, smiling down at him.

"So, you must be Minato's son."

X X X

I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I know the ending is a bit evil, but if you truly want to murder me for it, remember, if I die, then the cliffhanger will stay as it is. So no death threats, thank you.

I admit, I had some difficulties with this chapter. I find it difficult to write anything involving Hinata. This is obviously not the Hinata from the canon story, yet she is similar. So I find it difficult to keep that balance of shy girl who sometimes doubts herself too much from spilling over into the very introverted Hinata from the canon story line. I like to think I've found a reasonable balance.

After next chapter, a lot of questions will be addressed, so I will wait on saying anything then. I have quite a bit in store for the next few chapters, and I hope everyone will bear with me through them. They should be quite fun and interesting, I like to think. They will be very important to the story line.

So in closing, as usual, thanks to the Beta who ignored his body's need to sleep to finish editting this chapter. And please leave reviews. It's nice to see that people enjoy this story and not just me. It also give me a feel for what is good about the story and my writing, and while I won't change my story, I try to listen to what people want, and if I like it, throw it in somehow.

Hopefully everyone has a wonderful summer vacation. Hopefully it will only be a few days before I pump out the next chapter. So stay tuned.

(Anyone know why it sometimes doesn't show the last section, even when I upload a completed file with it in it? O.o)


	17. Father's Enemy, Son's Battle

I decided to not be truly evil and make you wait long for this chapter. I had originally intended to make it a good deal longer and end it at another key point, but that would have taken me a few days to finish, given my knew method of writing. I feel it had helped quality check the work a bit better, making life easier for the beta, and helped the story become a bit more fluid and pleasant to read. Hopefully you all like it. It takes me two to three times longer to write a chapter this way, but it's worth it to make a quality chapter.

So on to the story, and all rights to the deserving.

Rekindle: Father's Enemy, Son's Battle

"So, you must be Minato's son."

Naruto glared up at the man standing over him. Naruto knew just who this man was, and what he had sealed inside of him, but for some reason he didn't care about that at the moment. The single most driving thought in his head was how he hated this man for what he had done to his friends. Naruto didn't even think about what he was doing when he formed the seal to create a number of shadow clones behind him. All of them glared at the sannin before they launched themselves at him in order to get revenge for their friends.

Before the clones could even make it halfway up to where Orochimaru was standing, he released a small portion of his incredible amount of chakra, and destroyed the clones with the sheer force of it. Naruto felt his anger grow and was about to form the seal again when Kakashi placed a hand on his shoulder, shaking his head at Naruto slightly. Naruto glared at the man, expecting him to understand why he was doing this, but Kakashi ignored him and just turned back to look at Orochimaru, whispering out of the corner of his mouth, "Now is not the time to do anything hasty. They need us to help them, not make things worse."

Naruto turned to see a clone of Kakashi administering first aid for the others. He hadn't seen Kakashi make the clone, but he cursed himself for not thinking of it as well. They were hurt, and here he was not able to help them at all. Feeling tears well up in his eyes, Naruto brushed them out with the back of his sleeve, and gave them the best smile he could manage given the circumstances.

Hinata gave him a weak smile, even though she was sweating and grimacing in pain. "Kakashi-san is right Naruto-kun. I trust you." She gave him another smile of sorts before she closed her eyes as another rack of pain hit her, but Naruto nodded. He wouldn't let her or Shikamaru down.

"I'll get us out of this, I swear it." He whispered to them, and turned to face Orochimaru, who was still standing there smirking at him. "Your father hasn't trained you very well, _Naruto-kun._" Orochimaru drawled, making sure to mock Hinata's tone when he got to his name. Naruto took a deep breath, and forced his anger down before he did something foolish again.

"Yeah, well, at least he got the part right about making sure I don't end up like you, you bastard." Naruto wouldn't let him insult his parents just as much as he wouldn't stand for letting this man hurt his friends without paying for it. "And last time I checked, no matter how hard you trained or cheated, you couldn't beat my dad, you fake kage."

The chakra bleeding off Orochimaru got a little bit stronger, and Naruto was glad he had hit a sore spot. "I'd watch what I say little boy. Or I might have to show you why that foolish father of yours never could hope to defeat me."

Naruto made a production of rolling his eyes at the sannin before giving him the one-fingered salute, which caused the chakra to spike a little higher. Kakashi sighed next to him, "We have to work on your people skills, Naruto."

Naruto shrugged, not too worried about his actions. "Even I'm not dumb enough to think he's going to let us go without a fight, so might as well give the bastard a piece of my mind." Kakashi raised an eyebrow at him, and gave Naruto a pointed look. "Did you ever think it might be better to not face an _enraged_ kage-level ninja then?" Naruto ignored him, not wanting to admit to the fact that it also helped him blow off some steam. Despite his bravado and anger, the chakra being directed at him was causing his skin to crawl, and it felt good to say something and not stand there having to listen to Orochimaru's gibes.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto too a moment to locate his hara, and pulled up on as much chakra as he could. Letting the chakra spread throughout his body, he kept pushing more and more chakra through his coils until it started to bleed out of him as well, enough to intimidate anyone who knew how to sense chakra, he thought. It was an intimidation tactic old man Jiraiya had taught him, and while he knew he couldn't beat Orochimaru's display of chakra, maybe he could get the bastard to stop looking down on him.

Instead of being impressed or scared, though, Orochimaru laughed. It didn't have the same sinister quality his earlier laughter had before, this one sounding slightly tinged with insanity as the sannin watched him put out enough chakra that would put most jounin to shame. This laugh did nothing to make Naruto angry like his earlier ones had, but instead sent a cold chill to travel down his spine when he heard it.

"How interesting." Orochimaru drawled, "So young, yet able to produce so much chakra even on the verge of exhaustion. Even your father could not hope to produce so much at your age. I wonder, what allows your body to handle so much..." Naruto blinked as Orochimaru got lost in his thoughts, and looked at Kakashi, who just shrugged.

Naruto turned back to look at Orochimaru, but in the second he had looked away, the man had already disappeared. Kakashi was moving from his side, so it seemed that the jounin had not missed whatever had happened, and it was only when Naruto felt Orochimaru's chakra reappear behind him did he see him. Standing on the water on the side closer to Hinata and Shikamaru was Orochimaru, his hands already beginning to form a series of complex seals.

Naruto heard Kakashi curse, a rare thing for the normally laid back jounin, as he ran to the edge of the bridge and dived at Orochimaru with a kunai aimed at him. Naruto felt himself rooting for Kakashi, and was relieved to see Orochimaru stop gathering his chakra and escape under water in order to avoid being stabbed. Kakashi followed him under the surface of the river, and that was when things went from bad to worse.

Naruto saw what must have been the real Orochimaru drop a henge from himself from where had had been hiding against the support of the bridge. Forming a few seals, Naruto watched as Orochimaru waited until Kakashi was just about to break through the surface of water before finishing molding his chakra and bringing his hands to his mouth. In a large breath of snowy mist, Naruto watched as the entire upper layer of the river as far as Naruto could see turned into a sheet of solid chakra reinforced ice.

Before Orochimaru showed interest in him again, Naruto made a dozen clones who ran to Hinata and Shikamaru, and carrying them so as to not aggravate their injuries, took them away from the battle. Naruto swallowed, and turned to see Orochimaru jump back on to the bridge. Naruto watched his eyes dart to the retreating figures, but he made no move to stop them.

Naruto let his eyes dart to the ice, hoping Kakashi would find some way out of it and come help him. Before, he had felt a bit more confident to say those things to Orochimaru knowing he had Kakashi there to help him fight the bastard, but now that he was alone, he realized just how bad a situation this was. He knew Orochimaru was strong, probably even stronger than his dad after the injury Orochimaru had dealt him years ago, and here he was alone and expected to fight the man.

'I'm so screwed', Naruto thought.

Yet he had promised Hinata he would get them out of this, and if he died, then chances were everyone else would too. He knew he had no chance of actually defeating Orochimaru, so that left trying to get him to give up for now. Yet he doubted that he had even the skills to do that against someone of Orochimaru's level. Yet he refused to let anyone even think of doubting he put up the best goddamn fight he was capable of.

Naruto was torn from his thoughts when he heard that soft disturbing laugh from behind him, and looked up to see Orochimaru was gone. Jumping back and spinning he saw Orochimaru standing no more than a foot behind where he had been before, and Naruto frowned. He hadn't looked away for more than a second before that creepy snake bastard got behind him.

Naruto pulled out his trench knives, and slid into his guard, not letting his eyes leave the older man this time. Orochimaru continued to stare at him, and finally Naruto growled out, "What?!"

Orochimaru shrugged and gave him that condescending smile of his again. "I find it interesting how you refuse to run when that is clearly the smartest thing to do facing someone like me."

"I guess it's because you wouldn't let me go anyways, and because I have what it takes to become a kage where as you don't." Naruto said. It was Orochimaru's way of speaking that made him think of that. The man sounded too cold and uncaring to have ever been anything like what his parents had said a real Kage should be like. "Unlike you, I'm brave enough to stand up for what's right and for my friends." Naruto glared at the man whose face was turning red with anger at that last comment directed towards his ability to lead.

Naruto trusted his instincts and dodged before he saw Orochimaru move, and was rewarded by avoiding a stab of a sword that was sticking out of the other man's mouth. Seeing the man visibly restrain himself and swallow the sword again, Naruto could tell a cold more calculating look of reason had entered the older ninjas eyes.

From there, things only got worse.

Naruto knew having dodged that first attack had been what saved his life up until this point. Then Orochimaru had been content on killing him quickly, whereas now he seemed to be more than willing to draw the fight out to inflict as much injury as possible. Everything Naruto was trying to attack or defend himself was being met with a simple counter or attack that it would have made Naruto envious if it were anyone else. Naruto knew he was being played with, and was getting pissed off about it, but he couldn't find any way to stop it from happening.

Naruto crossed his arms in front of his face in order to block a punch, by now not surprised at the feeling of his bones cracking slightly under the force of the blow. The impact sent him sliding back a few feet, and he shook his arms to try and get feeling back in to them, worried how Orochimaru was putting so much power into his attacks despite not using any chakra or youki. Naruto knew he was still young, and therefore physically weaker, but it was so frustrating to know how absurdly strong Orochimaru was in comparison to himself.

It also worried him how he couldn't feel his wounds healing. He was recognizing the signs of chakra exhaustion, and knew that his bloodline wouldn't help him if it didn't have chakra to help fuel the process of healing. He doubted he had enough time to heal all the nasty internal damage he received from Kiba, and now he was fighting an opponent many times harder while holding back nearly everything.

Growling in frustration, Naruto threw a few kunai at Orochimaru to keep him busy for a split second as he forced more chakra out of his reserves to try and make a group of clones. He was just about to finish the technique when one of the kunai he had thrown came back and hit his hands handle first, breaking his concentration and causing Naruto to lose hold of the chakra.

The loss of control on his chakra left him slightly dizzy, and Naruto knew he was dangerously low on chakra for the first time in his life. Trying to focus, he saw a kunai coming at him, and instead of trying to determine the best way to dodge it, he did the most natural thing, drop to the ground, watching it pass over his head.

As he rolled over to get back up, Naruto saw Orochimaru's heel coming down towards his face in a vicious looking axe kick, and doing the only thing he could think of, Naruto began to roll out of the way. Before he got too far, however, he pulled out one of his few flash seals, glad for the fact he brought them for Shikamaru to use to create shadows with, and managed to activate it with a very small amount of chakra before rolling further away before it went off.

Naruto heard an angry growl of frustration when it went off, knowing for the first time in the fight he had managed to catch the sannin off guard. Deciding to try and press his advantage, Naruto shot to his feet and took off at a run towards the man. He knew he didn't have any chakra to try and add to his attack, so he decided to merely put as much power into it as possible, jumping up to give a flying side kick to the man's face. He was just about to hit him though, when Orochimaru reached up and grabbed his ankle, and stepping out of the way, used Naruto's momentum and his own strength to swing Naruto over his head and slam him face first into the concrete of the bridge.

Naruto coughed involuntarily in pain as he felt his ribs shatter under the assault, blood dribbling out from the corner of his mouth, a sign that he must have taken a lot of internal damage with that attack. It was then that he began to wonder if he had ever had any hope of escaping a scarily strong man like this by himself.

Naruto tried to push himself off the ground, but found he wasn't able to move as a foot pressed against his back, holding him pinned. Turning his head, he saw Orochimaru's head close to his, smirking, as he watched Naruto squirm underneath him.

"Are you ready to accept you cannot win? Perhaps if you come with me quietly I can let your friends live. See, am I not a caring Kage, letting my enemy's team live?" Orochimaru laughed at his own joke and Naruto felt a bit of his anger come back to wash away his doubts.

Naruto spat out blood on the ground next to him, "Bite me. You would probably send one of your slaves to do the dirty work for you, bastard." Naruto tensed as he saw the kick coming, but he still let out a grunt of pain as he felt his collarbone break when he landed more than a dozen feet away. Naruto groaned and tried to roll over to relieve the pain of lying on the shoulder with the new broken bone but was stopped when he started to roll over the bag of solider pills he had stolen off of Kiba.

A wild and crazy idea pierced through Naruto's pain-clouded mind, and it was the only thing he could think of that had even a small chance of letting him live to see another day. Orochimaru seemed to want to treat him like a stupid little ninja who knew nothing about being a shinobi, so he would show him exactly what he wanted to see.

Curling up into a tight fetal position to hide his actions, he opened the bag of pills and purposefully spilled about half of them on the ground, and taking the last of his explosive notes, shoved them into the bag and began to hope for the best.

Groaning, Naruto uncurled himself and began to get shakily to his feet, all the while pushing a very tiny amount of chakra though the bag to activate the seals inside. Naruto saw Orochimaru's eyes flicker to the pills on the ground, then back to the bag in his hand. Making as if to reach in to grab one, Naruto saw Orochimaru smirk, and Naruto knew his little ruse had worked perfectly.

The next thing Naruto knew, he was flying back through the air after being side-kicked, hard, in the stomach. He saw the blood coming out as he emptied his stomach even before his back hit the ground, where he skid for a few feet before turning over to finish emptying his stomach of blood and whatever contents were in it. Naruto knew he was at the end of his strength, he had no more chakra to give, and no more tricks up his sleeve. Orochimaru had been too strong an opponent for him to take on, even if he hadn't been previously injured.

But the most important thing going through his mind at that moment was that Orochimaru was holding the bag of pills now, who was looking at Naruto, and not what he held.

"Now, now, Naruto-kun. You should know better than using things that should be reserved for adults. I want to see your skill and you are certainly coming up lacking trying to use things like these to defeat me."

Naruto managed a half smirk towards Orochimaru. "Glad I didn't disappoint." With that, the bag exploded in Orochimaru's hand, and for a moment Naruto couldn't see the sannin through the explosion of multiple explosive notes going off at once.

Naruto watched the spot where Orochimaru had been hoping with everything he had that he had somehow gotten lucky enough to injure the bastard bad enough to retreat. Slowly, the smoke began to clear, and what he saw caused his heart to sink deep down into his stomach.

Orochimaru was standing their panting, holding the bloody mess that remained of his hand, his entire body encased in a blood red glow that had Naruto's skin crawling to watch. Looking up from Orochimaru's hand to his eyes, Naruto saw the crazed look in them and knew that he was going to die for that trick he had pulled. He even saw Orochimaru begin to slowly stalk over to him like an angry animal before he closed his eyes, waiting for the deathblow.

Naruto let his thoughts drift to his friends. His clones theoretically wouldn't be able to hold up their shape for more than a moment or two after he died, and hopefully they had gotten Hinata and Shikamaru far enough away that they would be safe. He didn't want to think what would happen to them if Orochimaru felt the urge to hunt them down, for he doubted they would ever be able to run far enough away for that beast stalking towards him to not find them once he had his eyes set on them. His friends were strong, and would pull through their injuries if they could just manage to escape the immediate danger.

He also wondered what had happened to Kakashi. He knew the jounin was too good to let himself die simply from being underwater for so long, as he had more than enough tricks to survive in some of the craziest of circumstances. Yet he wondered if once Orochimaru was done with him, he would attack the man stuck underneath the ice, and he doubted even Kakashi at his best could handle the creature standing before him.

Finally, his thoughts went to his family, and all he could do was be grateful for his parents and those around them. Whispering a silent goodbye, he waited for the blow to come as the superheated chakra and youki drew nearer to where he was laying.

Just as it got close enough he was sure that Orochimaru was going to inflict the final wound, he heard a slight whistling in the air, followed by a dull thunk, and the chakra seemed to die down a bit. Forcing his eyes open, Naruto saw above him a giant shuriken, perhaps a good three feet in diameter, sticking out of the chest of Orochimaru.

Instead of reacting with a pained expression like most would, he saw Orochimaru glare deep into the woods on the far side of the bridge, and in a flash disappear in that direction.

Forcing his head to turn, all Naruto saw before he passed out was a single bird break through the canopy of the forest and fly away.

X X X

The man stood in a tree, his breath normal and even despite having just outrun a demon possessed ninja. For now he would remain here to reflect on what had happened earlier.

He had watched as much of the fight as possible before he felt that the boy had finally reached a point that further fighting would either render him dead or incapable of continuing his life as a shinobi before interfering. His conscience told him he should have intervened earlier on, but he admitted he had been morbidly interested in seeing the boy pit himself against impossible odds in order to see the true extent of his ability. He had known that he had stood no chance at winning or accomplishing his goal to drive off the Kage of Konoha, yet he had performed admirably under the circumstances he had been thrust into.

He was interested in seeing how far the boy had progressed, and needed to know if the boy possessed the inherent ability to be able to defeat the sannin at some later point in time. He still did not have his answer to that question, yet he felt it was safe to assume that the boy would not plateau in ability soon should he live or avoid being captured at this stage in his life.

As such, he made sure to protect his investment in that boy's future, and waited for the most opportune moment to strike out to save him. Orochimaru had let his anger and pain consume him too wholly to notice the attack coming, wishing to take out his anger on the one who had inflicted it. Naruto had done very well to fool a ninja so many years his senior and with much more expertise than himself, and it had been Orochimaru's own hubris that had allowed Naruto to find an opening. He should have been able to see through such a blatant trick, yet he had not considered the boy capable enough to cause any damage, and was proven wrong.

He had only remained long enough to let the sannin see him before he had left, wishing to make his retreat as quickly as possible. He knew he could evade the Hokage indefinitely, and fight him to the point he could retreat, but he knew in a direct confrontation the result would be a vicious bloody struggle he had no desire to be part of at this point in time. He knew Orochimaru would follow him with zeal, hoping to attain a target he had thought lost for years, and he knew that would ensure Naruto's continuing safety for the moment. He had known in the interim that Sharingan Kakashi would be able to secure the children and lead them to a new secure location while he led Orochimaru elsewhere.

Next time though, Naruto would not be so lucky as to have someone there to safeguard him in a time of need. He would leave them to try and survive the current circumstances on their own, and grow stronger before he considered revealing himself to them.

With that, the man turned his back on the cave where they were hiding now and walked away. They would have to fend for themselves from this point onward for a time.

X X X

Kakashi was unusually serious as he stood guard at the entrance to their cave, looking out into the night. They had only just managed to survive the attack that had been made against them at the bridge. It had taken Kakashi a few hours to coax Tazuna out the shock of being introduced to so much chakra, as well to bring Naruto and the others to this new hiding place.

He had sent word back to Suna in order to bring everyone here. He knew Orochimaru would leave now that he believed they had retreated, but Kakashi was unconcerned with that. He had only said it was an emergency and for them to arrive as soon as possible. He knew even if his sensei used his technique to bring everyone there in consecutive jumps so as to not damage his lungs any further, it would still be late tomorrow evening by the time they arrived.

Kakashi looked at the two pale and sweating forms sitting around the fire inside, their brows being mopped by a weary looking Tsunami. Next to her Inari and Tazuna were caring for the beaten and broken Naruto, whose chakra was still too low to help him heal.

What he hadn't told Minato and the others was about the poison that Orochimaru had used on those kunai that he used on Hinata and Shikamaru and even now was eating away at them. He knew only enough medicine to make sure they would last until Tsunade got there, but after that, he wasn't sure what was going to happen.

Kakashi went back to scanning the forest outside of the cave, his heart heavy with thoughts about what would happen by the time everyone managed to arrive.

X X X

Sorry about the ending folks, I've always subscribed to the belief a good ending for a chapter is the one that keeps you on the edge of your seats. Obvious exceptions, but given the circumstances, I couldn't end this one so peacefully you all thought they got out of it hale and hearty. I will address the subject of Hinata and Shikamaru quite thoroughly come next chapter, so just bear with me.

From here we head into another arc of the story, and one I hope you all will enjoy. It is where the true plot begins to bear it's head, so I think it will be quite fun to write.

Again, thanks to our beta Falconrok5 for the quite beta work. He has done a good job of cracking the whip to make me clean up some very basic mistakes I make. What can I say? I'm a math and science geek, and while I love reading, I am utter garbage at composition. But I am always willing to try and improve. So bear with me, you'll also probably find in the near future I will revamp the old chapters to improve upon them as well. Just like any author would go back to clean up a draft for his book many times before releasing it, you guys just get to see those drafts.

Please review, I like to see people enjoying the story! With that, I need to get to work, so stay safe folks.


	18. Poisons

Sorry about the wait folks. I promised myself if I somehow continued to write long enough to reach a hundred thousand words, I would revise the beginning chapters. Which begs the question, how did you all manage to read them and still be interested enough to make it this far?! I was kind of appalled at my own writing. I tend to second guess my work too much, so I posted those with barely any revision or editing, but that doesn't excuse the fact they were badly done. I have gone back and rewritten the first two chapters as best I could without changing anything important. I understand some people don't wish to re read them, so I didn't want to edit them too strongly. But perhaps they're a bit more pleasant to read now, at least I hope so.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter. It's was finished awhile ago, but placed on the back burner until I finished the revision for the first two chapters. Now that I have done so, you guys get the new material. I hope you enjoy it.

All Rights to Masashi Kishimoto.

Rekindle: Poisons

Tsunade stopped what she was doing, placing her pack carefully on the ground before turning to face Jiraiya. "Do you want to run that by me again, Jiraiya?" She stalked closer, and watched as he swallowed deeply, grabbing his collar, she lifted him so his back was pressed up against the nearest tree. "I must have misheard you, because I thought you said we should make camp for the night. Would you care to clarify?" She kept her voice quiet and cool, intent on scaring the life out of Jiraiya for suggesting something so stupid when they were in a rush to make it to Wave country.

Jiraiya shook his head, looking down at her with a resigned look that she had seen on Sarutobi-sensei's face when he tried to explain to them an important lesson. It looked simply wrong on the old lecher, and made her feel even more irritated.

"I meant it. We need to take break, we can continue in a few hours." Jiraiya said calmly, and Tsunade felt Kushina's own anger by the way it caused her chakra to rise slightly. Tsunade saw Shizune floating around behind them, worry apparent on her face at the bickering going on. Turning back to Jiraiya, and her scowl deepened. "Do you really want to die at the hands of two pissed off kunoichi, Jiraiya?"

Jiraiya sighed and motioned his head towards Minato, worry evident on his face. "Hime. You're the medic here, look at Minato and tell me we can let him use that jutsu again with the state he is in." Tsunade stopped her glaring and realized the train of thought that led Jiraiya to risk his life suggesting they stop their run to Naruto's side in order to rest. Still, she felt a bit embarrassed about her reaction and instead of trying to act instantly sorry for what she did, she kept Jiraiya pinned up against the tree with one hand as she turned to look at Minato.

Minato had taken a seat on a stump on the far side of the clearing, his back to the rest of the group as he kept his head down, using the support of his arms on his knees to hold him up as he panted. It was painfully obvious how hard it was for him to take a deep breath, and his breathing came in short ragged gasps that seemed to rattle his entire body.

Tsunade sighed as Kushina frowned and walked over to kneel by Minato, taking his hand in hers and whispering something to him. Tsunade felt even guiltier for her actions after seeing Minato like that. She had been so worried for the safety of Kakashi and the children that she had ignored the obvious and had blindly accepted Minato's assertions that he was okay.

She recognized that Minato was reaching the edge of his still incredible endurance. He had once had the best stamina she had ever seen out of a ninja, and still possessed a great deal, yet the wound he had received years ago still affected his lungs to the point he had become a shell of his former self. Whereas their day long run, interspersed with Minato using his Hiraishin jutsu to transport the entire group miles ahead each time, would have once been nothing to the man, it now it left him drained to the point it could cause him serious harm. Letting out a shuddering breath as she let the last of her anger go, Tsunade let Jiraiya back down onto his feet, feeling annoyed at the situation they were in and at herself for not noticing Minato's condition.

Jiraiya may be a fool and a pervert, but he wouldn't let those kids stay in danger another night longer if he didn't have a damn good reason to do so. Knowing Minato, he would have kept pressing on towards Wave country unless someone stopped him or his lungs stopped working. She and Kushina had already had to convince him before that making one large jump to wave country was a bad idea, and would have caused irreversible damage to his already sensitive organs.

Tsunade sighed and turned to face Jiraiya "You're right." He grinned slowly, and Tsunade scowled at him again, "Don't let it get to your head. That's your student over there suffering, you know."

Jiraiya nodded, instantly sobered, "I know. Believe me, if I thought he was pushing himself this hard for anything else I would be disappointed in him but I neither can nor want to stop him from getting us there to help those brats." Tsunade frowned, "I'm worried about him, Jiraiya. On the surface that stab wound should have healed ages ago with help from me and Shizune, yet all the work I put into it fades with time and leaves it just as bad as it was when he received it."

Jiraiya let out a long breath and leaned against a tree, moving when Tsunade joined him, and the two watched Minato and Kushina whispering to one another. "I've been thinking," Jiraiya started, and Tsunade snorted in laughter at that. Jiraiya gave her rolled his eyes at her antics and continued "I've been thinking it's the sword's fault. It isn't a legendary blade for no reason. You're the best damn medic I've ever met and even Orochimaru couldn't figure out a way to injure someone, barring death of course, that you can't cure." Jiraiya took a moment to give her a smile that for once wasn't so lecherous and Tsunade made a harrumph sound, hiding her reddened cheeks from the man by looking away. She refused to acknowledge this more serious side of Jiraiya and would die before letting him know how attractive it could make him appear at times.

Jiraiya went on though, "I really doubt that sword was made by a god as the legends go. It probably was just a talented ninja and smith, who found some way to use chakra to worsen an injury over time. Maybe you could figure out a way to stop that first, and then take care of the wound? Not like I know much about the medical stuff you do, but it doesn't sound too hard."

Tsunade bit her lip and thought about it. It was a simple explanation to the problem, and she had her doubts about the true nature of that sword as well. She didn't believe she would be able to begin trying to repair the damage without serious time to devote to understanding the chakra that had eluded her for years now. Whatever had been used on Minato was subtle, and figuring out how to remove it would be difficult, but it wasn't impossible in theory.

Turning to face Jiraiya, she gave him a smile that seemed to throw the man off, and she leaned up on her tip toes to give him a small kiss on the cheek before stepping away. "Don't let it get to your head Jiraiya, but that may have been the best idea I've ever heard you come up with." She left Jiraiya standing there with a dumb look on his face, and headed over to check on Minato.

She walked in on what seemed like an argument between Minato and Kushina, and guessing the subject matter, waited until Minato was about to speak before saying anything. "I'm the doctor here, and the one giving the orders. You'll be of no use to anyone if you ruin all the hard work I've put into your chest by pushing yourself too long without a break."

Minato's mouth slammed shut and he gave her a frown and a glare that made him look like a particularly petulant child. Tsunade raised an eyebrow and gave him her own glare, causing Minato to settle for a frown.

"Don't even think of trying to argue with me. We'll leave in a few hours after you rest." Tsunade sat down behind Minato and started to check on his chest while Kushina sat nearby, holding Minato's hand, whispering something into his ear that made him smile despite himself. Tsunade was glad that whatever Kushina was telling him was helping Minato accept his own infirmities a bit easier.

She smiled despite herself at the thought about how nice it was for them to have each other in these hard times. She knew that Shizune and Kakashi had begun to enter a more than platonic relationship as well, and it sometimes made her remember the pain of losing Nawaki and Dan. She missed having those bonds of family and loved ones, yet as time had progressed, she found herself drawn ever closer to these people, and with time the pain had begun to fade.

In her heart, she truly considered everyone a part of her family, and she would fight to protect each and every one of them to her dying breath. These were the sorts of people that had made Konoha the strongest ninja village in the country before Orochimaru's rule. They were people who would strive to uphold her grandfather's ideal of compassion and unity within their force of ninja, and she felt proud to be able to help them.

Placing a hand on Minato's back, Tsunade focused her chakra into his body, looking for any damage in Minato's lungs. Spying a small tear forming, she sighed and began to heal it once again, disappointed at how easily the wound had begun to aggravate him again. Before she released the jutsu, she tried to looking for anything that could cause the continuing damage like Jiraiya had suggested. While she didn't find anything immediately wrong with the wound, the more she examined it, the more she could tell that there was something there, hiding just out of her current understanding.

Pulling back her chakra, she vowed to spend more time on the problem when this ordeal was over with. She was determined to restore Minato to the condition he had once been in, and wouldn't settle for anything but the best from the work she did on her patients.

Minato turned to give her a sad smile she had seen far too often when she had silently healed him after one of his late night training sessions. She had yelled at him at first for pushing his body so hard the first few times she had caught him coming back, winded and injured from training. Yet after seeing the frustration and disappointment with himself mounting in his eyes, she had stopped berating him, and instead healed him in silence, and all he would ever do was give her that same exact, heartbreaking smile.

Tsunade turned away from it and looked up into the night sky, not for the first time thinking about the children. She would speak to Kakashi about his message, as he had been vague with what had happened, and only asked they all come and be prepared to provide medical assistance. Tsunade only hoped that none of them would have to go through what Minato had been forced to deal with for far too long now.

X X X

Naruto started to wake up when he felt a hand on his brow, wiping away his sweat. He started to make a move to bat away the person's hand so he could go back to sleep but as he tried to move, a sharp pain traveled up his side and he let out a small groan of pain. Whoever it was must have heard him because they removed the hand and walked away from him. Naruto heard two people whispering, followed by both sets of footsteps drawing up next to him.

Naruto tried to open his eyes fully and was stopped when the sudden light gave him a headache. Screwing them shut for a moment, he tried again, this time making sure to crack them open slowly, and he saw Kakashi kneeling over him. The silver haired man raised a hand, "Yo."

Naruto blinked and tried to say something, but instead of his voice, a dry croak came out of his mouth. Naruto frowned and tried again and was met with the same results. A moment later Tsunami knelt by him and helped him to sit up. She gave him two pills to swallow and brought a glass of water up to his lips. Naruto drank it down greedily, and waited just long enough for Tsunami to help him lie back down and nod at her in thanks before turning to look at Kakashi again.

"What happened?" He asked.

Kakashi ran a hand through his hair, "Before or after I was foolish enough to go take an ice bath?"

"Both I guess, but I knew you would get out of some stupid ice jutsu." Naruto said. Kakashi gave him a small smile, "I'm glad you have such blind faith in me, Naruto. But yes, there are jutsu to let you breathe underwater for awhile. Given my elemental affinities don't mix well with water, I had to rely on my kunai and it took me longer to break free than I had hoped." Kakashi shrugged, "From there I simply brought you and the others here to rest and recover. You did very well Naruto, better than any of us could have hoped given the circumstances, though, I still am unsure on how you managed to get Orochimaru to leave..." Kakashi left the question open ended, and Naruto shook his head.

"That's not important right now Kakashi, what about the others?" Naruto stared at Kakashi, and when he didn't instantly reply, Naruto started to feel worry begin to pool inside of him. "They're okay, right? A wound like that is nothing..."

Kakashi looked too serious, and didn't say anything. Naruto pushed himself up to sit upright, and Tsunami came to his side. "You should rest, Naruto-san. You were hurt badly and need to take your time to recover properly." Naruto shook his head and ignored her, fixing a glare on Kakashi. "What happened to them?!" Naruto was shouting now, which caused Tsunami to look uncomfortable, whereas Kakashi just stared at him for a long moment.

Finally Kakashi sighed, and it looked to Naruto as if he were frowning behind his mask. "Poison. Very slow acting and out of my ability to handle. If I hadn't been exposed to Orochimaru's style of combat before we left Konoha I may never have thought to look for it, but as it is Tsunade and the others are on their way here to help."

Naruto leaned back and screwed his eyes shut, the scene of Hinata and Shikamaru being hit with those kunai replaying in his head. If only he had been faster, or more aware, he could have stopped it before it happened, but he had failed them. He kept on repeating to himself that this couldn't be happening, while Kakashi went on. "It's a deadly poison too, but for now it seems to be under control. We can only hope Tsunade knows how to take care of it."

Naruto heard what Kakashi said, but didn't really think about it. He felt responsible for what had happened, and needed to see them. Naruto slowly tried to rise to his feet, and when he was met with no success, he only growled out his annoyance. Tsunami tried putting him back into the bed, but he ignored her and gave Kakashi a pointed look. The jounin seemed to understand what he was asking and gripped Naruto in his armpit and helped him to his feet. The jounin slowly led him further back into the cave and in the very back of it was a fire where Shikamaru and Hinata were resting.

Both of them had blankets piled on to them, yet he could see slight shiver racking both of their bodies, their faces pale with fever. Naruto looked at Hinata, seeing her eyes moving underneath her eyelids as she dreamed about something, a haunted expression playing over her face for a moment before Tsunami walked over to mop her brow, and the dream seemed to pass.

Naruto looked up at Kakashi, dreading the words that he had to ask. "How long?"

Kakashi looked down at him, "Particularly morbid assessment there." When Naruto didn't react at all he shrugged. "If I hadn't caught it as soon as I had, I would say a week. But even without Tsunade coming here to help, it would take closer to three at this rate before they ran the risk of dying." Kakashi put a hand on his shoulder, "I know I'm not usually the responsible and serious voice Naruto, but believe me when I say Tsunade is the best there is, and she's on her way as we speak."

Naruto nodded numbly, and took a seat by his two friends while Kakashi took Tsunami away, Naruto could hear him tell her in hushed tones to sleep. It seemed Tsunami agreed eventually, because the whispers died and Naruto was left with his friends, occasionally wiping away their sweat as the night went on. All the while Naruto couldn't shake the feeling he had failed them and swore to himself to do whatever he could to help them make it through this.

X X X

Naruto was roused out of his light sleep when he head the sounds of movement coming from where Tsunami was preparing a light meal for those present. Naruto had spent all of last night watching over his friends as they struggled to fight off the poison and only had gone to sleep that morning when Tsunami had finally convinced him that he needed rest if he was to be helpful to them in the long run. Judging by the light in the cave, he guessed he had only gotten a few hours sleep, but the rest had done his body well. He felt a bit livelier as some of his chakra had been replenished and had begun to repair the damage he had taken yesterday. His chakra was still quite low, but he trusted that in time his bloodline would be able to fully kick in.

Turning to look at his friends, he was glad to see that sometime while he had been asleep their dreams had gotten better and they had fallen into a deeper, more peaceful sleep. They were still pale and shaking though, and Naruto frowned at the persistent fever they were running, worried about how it wouldn't break despite their best efforts. Naruto turned away and took a deep breath, forcing the tears to remain unshed as he thought of just what was happening to them. He cared for his friends more than his own life, and he couldn't shake that voice that told him he had failed them yesterday. He knew he had to be strong for them, and he refused to admit that anything could happen, especially since Tsunade was on her way to heal them, and if anyone could do it, it would be her.

Naruto signaled to get Tsunami to notice him, and she came over and gave him a rather weak smile compared to the ones he received over the few days he had gotten to know her. "Yes, Naruto?"

Naruto gave her a small smile in return and realized he probably had her worried with his rude behavior last night. He didn't feel right smiling at the moment, as he didn't find anything particularly happy about the situation they were in, but it seemed to make her a bit more relaxed. "Where did Inari and Tazuna go? I'm sorry for not noticing last night but I was slightly worried about...you know..."

Naruto couldn't finish what he was saying and she gave him a small smile, though with much more warmth this time. Naruto was glad she seemed to pick up on the unspoken apology for his behavior last night and watched as she started to tidy up. "Quite alright, dear. They, along with your teacher's dogs went back to Suna to hire more protection, your teacher even told them to make it free of charge as a favor to you and your family."

Naruto looked down, "I'm sorry to have dragged you all into this..." Tsunami looked at him and gave him a frown that did nothing to hide the joking twinkle in her eyes. "And here I thought we hired you for this mission. If anything it's our fault your friends ended up like this, so don't hog the blame for yourself young man; we payed for our share of the blame, and you ninjas aren't cheap." Naruto couldn't help but laugh a bit at Tsunami's joke, and he felt a little bit better for it. Looking at his friends sobered him up quickly however, and he gave her a small smile, "Do you mind helping me over to talk to Kakashi?"

Tsunami gave him a warm smile and came over to help him up, and carefully led him to the front of the cave where Kakashi was sitting on a stone watching the surrounding forest. The jounin gave his normal one handed wave in greeting as Tsunami helped Naruto get settled on a similar rock on the other side of the cave entrance. She gave them both an encouraging smile before heading back into the cave to look after the others. Naruto turned to look out of the cave like Kakashi and both of them didn't say anything, both lost in their own thoughts.

"My hunter dogs report that the others will be here within an hour." Kakashi finally said, neither of them taking their gaze away from the mouth of the cave. Naruto gave a small nod he just assumed Kakashi saw, and continued to watch the landscape outside. They sat there in silence as the minutes ticked away, and close to an hour later they began to hear the sounds of people coming closer.

Kakashi stood up to greet them as his summoned dog walked through the bush, leading Naruto's parents as well as Jiraiya, Shizune, and Tsunade to the cave entrance. The dog came up to sniff Kakashi's hand and Kakashi nodded before it disappeared in a puff of smoke. Naruto began to feel better now that everyone had arrived. Even if they all looked tired and dirty, their eyes were alert as they scanned the area and Naruto felt their eyes settle on him and his injuries.

Tsunade and Shizune ran over to check on him and he felt his mom's chakra flare as she turned on Kakashi. "What the hell happened, Kakashi?!" His mom was yelling loud enough to wake the dead, and Naruto saw Tsunami poke her head around the corner before falling to her knees in fright at the sight of Kushina as she tore into Kakashi.

His dad placed a hand on her shoulder and whispered something in her ear and the pressure in the air lessened, though Kushina still seemed ready to tear Kakashi limb from limb at the slightest provocation. His dad gave her a one armed hug and kissed her on the cheek before he walked over to introduce himself to Tsunami, making sure to give Naruto a small smile and a pat on the back before passing by to help the startled woman.

Naruto lost track of what was going on when Tsunade grabbed his chin and made him look at her, opening his eyelids to check his pupils and after a few similar tests, sighed. "Shizune, grab my medical kit and give me some of the blood restoratives. Also prepare some medicine to help with chakra restoration; he's almost dangerously low right now."

Shizune nodded and set about her job as Tsunade unzipped Naruto's vest and placed a glowing palm against his chest. Naruto could feel her chakra begin to move inside of him, heading towards the worst damage in an attempt to heal it, but Naruto reached up to grab her wrist to stop her. Pulling it away lightly so she wouldn't damage anything with having to suddenly break the technique, he saw Tsunade start to get mad at him. "Naruto, this is not the time to be stubborn, you have serious injuries that need to be looked at." Naruto didn't let go and Tsunade glared, "Stop being childish about this, Naruto."

Naruto shook his head, "Can you check the others first? Please Auntie, they need it more than I do." Something in the way he must have said it or the look her gave her caused her to lose some of her anger as she leaned back to stare at him.

After looking at him for a moment, she seemed to soften and took a deep breath of resignation. "Fine, but I want you to take those pills Shizune gives you right away, and she will be helping you get more comfortable while I look at the others. Then you can tell us what happened." Naruto nodded, and she walked back into the cave, though not before she placed a hand on his shoulder, her voice soft and comforting, "Don't worry, I'll fix them right up, so don't give Shizune any trouble."

Jiraiya walked up next and squatted down next to him, and gave him an appraising eye. Finally he coughed and gave him a small grin, "You look like shit kid." Naruto snorted, "You look like you always do, you perverted old man." Naruto wasn't too surprised when Jiraiya didn't blow up at him for saying that given the circumstances and scooted over as the older man decided to sit down next to him. "Kakashi was a bit vague, but you really fought Orochimaru?"

Naruto nodded and Jiraiya let out a low whistle, and placed a hand on Naruto head and mussed his hair. "Seems our little ninja is growing up." Naruto glared up at him, but stopped when he saw Jiraiya looking at him seriously. "We were worried about you, but we're proud that you did so well out there. You fought for your friends and loved ones out there like a real ninja should, so don't take everyone yelling at you the wrong way. We old people need to vent our frustration somehow." Naruto nodded, leaving the two in a comfortable silence as they waited for Shizune to finish preparing the medicine.

A few minutes later Shizune had made multiple batches of chakra restoratives and came over to Naruto holding one, along with a variety of pills and nutrients she always insisted on him having. Naruto swallowed the pills and only balked slightly at the foul tasting chakra medicine, but managed to get it down after a few swigs from his water bottle. She made to check him over once more before giving him the okay to be moved back into the cave, and before he could say anything Jiraiya had stood up and lifted him up to carry him. Naruto had to bite back the urge to yell at the man to let him down when he saw the look Shizune gave him. It was the same look Tsunade gave when anyone tried to go against her orders as the doctor and he knew that arguing against receiving help would be a bad idea if he didn't want to earn even more bruises, so he resigned himself to be babied for a few moments longer.

The back room was bustling with activity when they entered, and almost as soon as they got in there Tsunade pulled Shizune to her side and began giving her instructions of various scans to run. Naruto saw the nervous looks floating around in the room, as his father tried to calm his mom and Kakashi was working to make Tsunami feel more at ease around so many ninja on edge. He felt sorry for the woman, because he knew every ninja in the room was releasing chakra as their nerves got to them, and it must have been uncomfortable for her to be in the center of it all with no training on how to ignore its effects.

Taking a seat in a corner of the room, Naruto decided to do something he knew how to do but rarely acted on, just sitting down and shutting up, while he let Tsunade work. A few minutes later his dad came over and put an arm around his shoulders, but otherwise did nothing else as they sat there waiting. They didn't saying anything as they waited for the next few hours while Tsunade worked on the others. She had just been ordering all the adults with various tasks to help and was performing various complex scans and jutsu, as well as traditional medicine before she finally leaned back and sighed.

Looking up at his dad for approval, he nodded and Naruto cleared his throat to get Tsunade's attention. Tsunade shook her head as if to clear it and turned around to look at him before pushing herself up and making her way over to him with a tired look on her face. She knelt in front of him and placed her hand on his chest and began to heal him again. Naruto frowned, but knew better than to say anything and risk making her angry. Still, he felt better for the healing, and while he knew she didn't have enough chakra left after working on the others to heal him fully, he knew that what she had done had been important, so he gave her a smile in thanks. She returned one of her own, though it seemed to be rather forced as she went to sit down with Jiraiya. The old toad hermit handed her a cup of tea and she gave him a nod of thanks while Kushina came to sit on the other side of Naruto, putting a hand across his shoulder along with his father's as they huddled together.

Seeing no one was going to say anything, Naruto coughed again, getting their attention. "How are they?"

Tsunade frowned, "It's not good Naruto, I won't lie, but there are some things we have to know before we can get into that." Naruto was about to argue with her when Kushina cut in. "Naruto. We're all worried for them, but we need to hear what happened first, it might give Tsunade an idea on what other ways she can help heal them. Kakashi here," and at that Naruto saw her sent a stern look at Kakashi before turning back to him, "didn't tell us much with his summons. Seeing as he told us what he could since then, we know that you were the one to be there for the last few moments of the fight, so we need to hear what happened, can you do that for us?"

Naruto looked up to see all the adults giving him a questioning look, even Tsunami, and he guessed he would have had to explain his fight with the other Sannin at some point. Taking a deep breath Naruto started to explain from the point of his fight with Kiba, interrupted only when he spoke of his unique use of the rasengan and his unintentional usage of the Hiraishin technique. Both interruptions were from Minato and Jiraiya who were impressed with his ingenuity and his ability to perform difficult techniques under pressure, but were quickly quieted by the stern looks of the females in the group. He then went on to tell them about the way Kakashi had been fooled into the ice, followed by the fight with Orochimaru. When he reached the final portion that needed retelling, though, he balked and couldn't help but wondered what he should say.

He knew that the smartest thing to do would be for someone to investigate whoever had come to his aid, because it was possible that they wouldn't continue to care for his well being, and they now knew enough about him to be a possible threat. Yet Naruto didn't believe that the man meant him any harm. He had saved his life and Naruto believed that made whoever had done it worthy of some of his trust. Still, there was little chance he could lie well enough to fool an entire group of ninja, and he knew it was important, so he readied himself to defend his savior and continued with the story.

"Then, right as he was about to finish me, someone attacked him from the forest. I never got to see him, but he saved my life. One moment Orochimaru was angry at me, the next he had this huge shuriken sticking out of him. Orochimaru pretty much forgot all about me after that and chased the guy and then I passed out." Naruto looked up to see the adults looking at each other, while his mother turned to him and gave him a small smile. "Are you sure he was trying to help you Naruto, and didn't just miss or make a mistake somehow?"

Naruto shook his head, "No way. That was too good a timing and a shot to be anything but what the guy meant to have happen. And besides, Orochimaru looked really angry by whatever he saw in the forest, so I think he was there to help." Naruto turned to look at Tsunade and decided to change the topic, "Did that help?"

Tsunade frowned, "Yes and no. I don't see anything unusual about Orochimaru's fighting style that's changed, so I can only assume he is fighting in the manner I saw him use last time we met. You have to understand something about Orochimaru Naruto; he's always been very gifted. It's amazing you survived and accomplished as much as you did, so be thankful you were so lucky, kid. What worries me is that if this is the same fighting style, I believe I know exactly what kind of poison he was using. It's something he perfected during the war with the Hidden Rock village, and he considers it one of his crowning achievements. If there is one thing that will never change about that snake it will be that he doesn't believe in changing things he already deems to be perfect."

Jiraiya sighed and rubbed his eyes, "Do you mean what I think you do, Tsunade?" Tsunade nodded and turned to face the others with a grim expression. "What Jiraiya and I have experience with is the poison Orochimaru used when we fought against the village of rock, and we think he used that poison now as well. The rest of you weren't too directly involved with him at the time, so you wouldn't know the finer details of this poison. It was something he created for the sole purpose of assassination. It was slow-acting and nearly untraceable unless you knew to look for a type of poison created by shinobi. You could slip it in a politician's meal and he would merely seem to get sick, and despite the best medical care you could provide them, they would die in a matter of weeks."

Tsunade got up and started to pace around the fire, "It's one of the most ingenious things I've ever seen in terms of a poison, though. It's designed so any chakra used to try and directly tamper with its make up or remove it will only kill the person much faster. In the Hidden rock such mistakes usually meant death for the medic who was foolish enough to let a respected politician die on their watch. It also resists almost every natural anti venom known, so traditional doctors have almost no chance of defeating it either. The only reason it isn't used more often is how difficult it is to make, and I'm surprised he even had enough on him for two kunai to be coated with it. It must have cost him a fortune to have made enough to spare it on such a backwaters mission like this."

Naruto couldn't contain himself any longer and stood up, getting directly in her path, "But you can cure it right?! Aren't you some legendary healer? You make it sound like they're going to die!" Naruto was shouting by the end, and only his parents' hands on his shoulders pulling him back down stopped his tirade. Tsunade didn't get mad however, which was a rare enough thing when Naruto blew up at her. The lack of anger on Tsunade's part only compounded how serious the whole situation was to Naruto.

"I can, but it's not that easy. The trick to curing them is to instead to make a medicine I designed when I first learned of the poison. Should the poison have ever of been accidentally mishandled or used against us, it was my job to ensure it was possible to save people's lives from it. It allows the use of chakra to remove the poison directly by altering the makeup of the poison using natural ingredients. The only problem is one of the most important ingredients is rare and hard to get a hold of unless you live in a place like Konoha which can spend enough money to import it."

This time Kakashi spoke up, "But I assume you know where to get more by the sound of it." Tsunade turned to glare at Kakashi, "Yes, and you had better be glad I am not stringing you up for not letting us know of the danger sooner, Kakashi. I hope you realize I won't forget about it and am disappointed in how you let them face someone like Orochimaru this early in their career." Naruto watched as his mom nodded, and Naruto stood up and slowly made his way over to Kakashi.

"Auntie, before you you kill Kakashi here, it was our choice to stay and help Tazuna. You taught us to always help people, right? So how could you expect us to leave them and turn down the mission this far into it just because we got scared? Kakashi didn't know what was going to happen either and did his best to help us get through this." Naruto gave Tsunade a stubborn look to match her own and his dad walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder, and looked at Tsunade. "He's right. I know I hate to hear about the danger they were in, but they're ninja, and it's natural they're going to be in rough spots, we just didn't have any way of guessing how badly this would go."

Tsunade frowned and Jiraiya stood up to place a hand on her shoulder, which she shrugged off. "I know, I know. But you'll excuse me if I don't like it even if it is true. Getting back to the problem at hand though, the problem is that the ingredient I need most for the cure is only found in Grass country, and they don't let foreigners in without damned good reason. There's no way we can get what we need in time if we try to go through the right channels to get it. I can delay things for a few weeks if we keep them here and have the reinforcements from Suna bring us supplies, but we need that medicine or they WILL die."

At hearing that, Naruto nodded, and it came to him clearly what that meant for him. Looking at his parents, he saw they seemed to understand what he was thinking of and almost instantly his mom's face started to take on an angry expression. Kushina stood up, pointing her finger at him, "No you will NOT go to grass country, Naruto. I refuse to let you go off again when it can only lead to more trouble. I grew up in grass country and you have no idea how dangerous it can be there. Even without having one of the great ninja villages to act as the national army, it is still full of ninjas well out of your ability to handle."

Naruto stood up straighter and stared at her, "I'm going to save my friends, and I will get there even if I have to sneak out of here. You guys taught me how to do the right things with the power I have, so don't start giving me the kiddy gloves when you feel like it, mom." Kushina glared, "Uzumaki Naruto, if you think" she started, but Minato walked over put a hand on her shoulder shaking his head softly. She turned to glare at him now, "You can't be serious Minato, we can't let him go in there on some suicide mission. He's just a child. We'd be lucky if we can get ourselves in past the army grass land uses to protect its borders."

He looked at Kushina and then at Naruto, "He won't be going on one, because we'll be going with him." He came over to place a hand on Naruto's shoulder this time, kneeling to look him in the eye. Minato didn't say anything for a moment, and Naruto just kept his eyes focused on his dad's, willing him to see how serious he was about this. Finally Minato spoke up, "You will listen to us and do whatever we instruct, do you understand that Naruto? Because if you think you can't say so now, and we'll leave you here while we go get what Tsunade needs. This will be no time for insubordination. This is to be treated as a high level mission and you have to understand that we will be forced to treat you as we would any other ninja under our command while there."

Naruto didn't even have to think on it before nodding, knowing he would agree willingly to whatever conditions he had to follow to find a way to help his friends. Minato sighed and stood up, "It's decided then. In the morning we leave for Grass country."

X X X

I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter. I had no intention of writing at all over labor day weekend, but I sat down to at least pan out the first section a bit, and it somehow turned into a complete chapter to be sent to the beta by the time I got up from my keyboard. Again, big thanks to Falconrok5 for his help with berating me for my horrendous writing. Without some of his help, you would be forced to see some horrible things in these stories.

This part of the story marks the end of the second or third arc, depending on how you wish to break it up. The next few chapters will involve Naruto and his parent's time in the country of the grass. There will be some major developments, so I hope everyone will continue to read if only to see what happens.

Also, I surprised the poor beta with this as well, bu the pairing of Kakashi and Shizune. Don't expect it to be overt, as I don't have any particular inclination for this pairing or any other pairing for Kakashi or Shizune, but it works within the lens of the story. Kakashi isn't quite the irresponsible pervert here, and Shizune had spent more time with Kakashi, so it's not too hard to believe they may end up bonding more here. Also, don't worry Naruto/Hinata fans, you will have your time soon enough. It's hard to have much going on when one person is knocking on heaven's door, but there may be a couple things presented about the couple that I've been hinting at for awhile in the next few chapters.

As always, please leave reviews. I like to see what you enjoy about a chapter, and to hear what you the audience wants to see. While I can't guarantee it, a story is in part told for the benefit of others, so I try to keep this in mind. I will continue to strive to improve my work, but I need to know what people want to see more of out of me, and what they wish to see less of as well.

Peace.


	19. A chance to be normal

Very short chapter for you all. I didn't forget about certain people as the story progressed, they just were sentenced to the back burner for a time. This chapter is designed to wrap up this arc, as we enter into the next one. So I apologize about it being short, but it really wouldn't be appropriate to lump it into the next chapter, and I won't lengthen it simply for word count when there would be no useful content.

Anyways, all rights to those who earned them first.

**Rekindle: A chance to be normal**

Minato held tight to Naruto, letting him set the pace while he used Minato's arm for support as they made their way through the woods. Tsunade and Kushina had wanted him to use the remainder of the day to rest before their mission into the country of grass, yet Naruto had been adamant on accompanying Kakashi and Jiraiya, on their visit to the young genin from Konoha.

Silently, he agreed with them that Naruto should take longer to recuperate, but he respected the boy's desire to make sure the three were fairly represented by coming along. It had taken some work to persuade Kushina, but he had promised to make sure Naruto wouldn't push himself too hard while they were out, and gotten permission to take him with them. Minato knew better than to let Naruto return with a single hair out of place, otherwise he would risk the combined wrath of Tusnade and Kushina, so he was being extra sure to take care of him.

Minato brought himself and Naruto to a halt as Kakashi stopped, and grinned at Naruto's confused expression. All around them bushes and overgrowth had taken over the landscape, and was insufficient to hide and hold three ninja, yet it seemed they had come to the end of their hike. Before Naruto could say anything, Minato shook his head to quiet the boy as Kakashi placed his hands in a seal to gather his chakra. Nodding towards Kakashi to make sure Naruto was watching, they saw the bushes directly ahead of them disappear to reveal a relatively large cave. Making sure he had a firm grasp on his son, Minato helped him into the cave where the three genin were tied up to one another in the middle of a seal drawn on the floor of the cave.

Clearly Kakashi had gone to great lengths to ensure that those children would not be able to use any chakra for the time they were captive. The seal would help in keeping them complacent while they decided what to do with them. Though Minato harbored his doubts that such caution was really needed at this point, judging by the looks of them. He had rarely seen a more beat up bunch of genin than these three, and it was probably better for them to be sleeping off their exhaustion at the moment.

All three of them looked to be about the same age as Naruto, though it was hard to tell accurately underneath all the dirt and grime. They also seemed to be in desperate need of their rest, as they looked like they hadn't been allowed to sleep in quite some time, judging by the bags under their eyes. Worse however, were the injuries they had suffered in the fight. From the sound of it, though Naruto and the others had shown a good deal of restraint in how they went about defeating these kids, their own youki-fueled attacks had done a good deal of damage. From what he could see, the youki they had used had given them horrible burns all over their bodies, and though it looked as if Kakashi had tried to provide first aid for them, it would take a great deal more time before they were in good health. Tsunade would especially want to try and treat them when she found time between caring for Hinata and Shikamaru, for Minato had his doubts about how easily those youki burns would heal themselves, judging by their severity.

Minato turned to face Jiraiya, who was examining the curse seal on the neck of each of the genin. "What do you think Sensei?" Jiraiya sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "Just trying to absorb it all. My spy in Konoha did say that they used these on some of the most skilled genin, and judging by their ages, I'd say these three must be pretty talented to have already been marked. I just hope that what Kakashi told us is right, and that they only have them because they were forced, not because they wanted to be even more powerful."

Before Minato could say anything, Naruto tore his arm out of his grip and stumbled over to Jiraiya. "Of course they wouldn't take that bastard's seal if they had a choice!" Naruto yelled, making sure Jiraiya couldn't get a word in to defend himself if he wanted to. "You didn't fight them old man, but they didn't want to be listening to that bastard's orders, and it hurt them to try and fight it, a lot. So don't say things like that about them again." Naruto continued to glare at Jiraiya, and Jiraiya looked ready to retaliate when Minato walked over to help support Naruto.

Minato made sure to give Naruto a placating smile, "We believe you. It's just that we are trying to figure out the best way to handle this. From the way you make it sound, they tried their best to fight against the seal, right?" Naruto nodded and Minato turned to face Jiraiya. "Then I say we try to seal it, Sensei. It sounds like they were sincere about not wanting to hurt anyone, so they deserve the chance we can give them. At the very worst, we can watch them for awhile to make sure that they really are against what Orochimaru stands for."

Jiraiya looked between Minato and Naruto for a moment before sighing, "Yeah, I guess we should. I wasn't against it, mind you, but this won't be easy." Minato just gave him a smile then turned to Kakashi, "Kakashi. Can you remove the seals for a few moments? We need to try something and those will only get in our way for now." Kakashi nodded and got to work as Minato moved Naruto out of the way, helping him down to the ground and took a seat next to him.

Minato gestured at the seals Jiraiya was placing around the room, hoping to explain things better for Naruto. "Jiraiya and I figured there would come a time when we captured ninja from Konoha who would rather be free from the seal. This is our solution, and while it isn't perfect, it should be good enough to help those three, at least until we find a more permanent way to be rid of Orochimaru. The reason we had to be sure of their intention is the strength of the seal means little if the ninja who has it on them wants to draw on their cursed seal. It might make it harder to draw on the power, but they would eventually find a way to break through it, and we had to make sure these children wouldn't try anything like that. If they're so minded, they could even walk away from being a ninja altogether after this, and not have to deal with the taint of Orochimaru's seal ever again."

Naruto nodded, appearing to be a bit calmer after hearing what Minato was planning. Though he doubted the boy understood the details exactly, it was good that he was paying attention, for he knew Naruto would have to make use of this seal in the future

"Can they still be ninja if they want to, though?" Naruto asked, and Minato frowned a bit at that. "There's no reason why they can't, but we'll want to watch them for awhile before deciding if it's safe to let them fight without running back to Orochimaru." Minato saw Naruto get ready to defend them again but Minato held up a hand to stop him, "It's not that we don't trust you, Naruto. We just have too much to lose by being careless. I won't change my mind, but trust me, if they want to be ninja again, we'll help them in every way we can, is that all right with you?"

Naruto brightened up and gave him a smile. "Just keep in mind, Naruto. They went through something horrible, and it won't do to push them too much to try and become ninja again if they should choose not to." Naruto frowned a bit, but nodded, and Minato ruffled his head before standing up and walking over to Jiraiya. "Ready?"

Jiraiya looked up from the final seal he was etching into the dirt, and nodded. "As ready as we can hope for the seal. What about you though? This isn't exactly a simple jutsu, and even with the both of us, it's going to take a lot of chakra to seal even one of those kids, do you really plan to seal all three of them right now?"

Minato shrugged, "Tired or not, we only have today to do this. I want you to come with us when we leave tomorrow, and we're the only two who have practiced this seal before, so we can't ask anyone else to try it. Besides, with the exception of Naruto, I have the largest chakra reserves, and the more you use, the better the seal, so it is best if I'm the one to do it. On the bright side, it gives Tsunade and the others time to observe them as well as tend to their wounds. Maybe by the time we get back we'll have a better idea of if we should trust them or not."

Jiraiya sighed, "Anyone ever tell you you're going to kill yourself trying to help everyone one of these days, Minato?" Minato smiled, and patted Jiraiya's shoulder, "I think you have have (a dozen times, at least." Minato rolled up his sleeves and took a deep steadying breath, preparing himself for a grueling amount of work. "So, shall we get started?"

X X X

**A/N**

Sorry about how long this took, despite it being short. I recently began training again for martial arts as well as taking on a research position with two separate professors. Any of you who have done research in the sciences know one position is a full time job usually, so I am a bit busy. I have plenty of ideas for the next arc, and have already begun writing it. I expect to finish sometime this weekend, but if I lose my muse between now and then, then it may be longer.

I also may be a bit slow because I've been sucked back into video games. I will reach 'God Walking Amongst Mere Mortals' in Guildwars by the end of the summer somehow! The question is making enough gold. But that's neither here nor there, and I promise to leave my video games long enough to write more for you all.

Please comment and review, as I always say, it helps me understand what I am doing right or not. It also gives me something to see in my inbox when I'm at work, and that makes my job a bit easier to handle during the dull points.

Stay safe!


	20. Hidden in the Grass

The story has now gone past the beta and been revised. I hope you enjoy the chapter folks.

All Rights to the proper companies that licensed the series first.

Rekindle: Hidden in the Grass

X X X

Kushina checked the contents of Naruto's pack one more time, making sure that the most essential items were accounted for and easy to locate in case of emergency. Nearby, everyone was resting after what had been an exhausting day, including Tsunade, who had finally taken a break from her near constant work tending to the wounded. Tsunade had spent many hours making sure to do everything she could to help Hinata and Shikamaru without the aid of the antidote, and had even taken the time after tending to them to go check on the health of the genin that had been captured, insisting on healing them as well before she finally rested. For now it was Kushina's turn on watch, both to guard everyone against potential threats and having been charged with waking up Tsunade should the children experience any discomfort from the poison in their system. While keeping an eye on them though, Kushina had decided to use the time to make sure everything was prepared for their mission.

Even though she had yielded on the topic earlier, she was still having trouble accepting the fact that Naruto would be accompanying them deep into Grass country. They had traveled there a few times in the past when she was a child, but it was always done in secrecy, and never venturing so far into the country that they ran risk of being spotted by the numerous ninja that patrolled the countryside. In order to purchase the materials needed for Tsunade to make her medicine, it would require them to contact very specialized merchants. Unfortunately, the best place to find them quickly would be at the largest point of commerce and trade in Grass country. The difficult point of that was the fact that the majority of all commerce took place at the capital, which was also the hometown for the ninja groups based out of Grass.

Kushina sighed, trying to release some of her fear of what could happen should anything go wrong with the mission. She had been on countless missions that entailed danger far worse than this one, but now that her own son had to be involved in it, Kushina felt the fear of failing a mission, one she had long thought conquered, come back to life within her.

It was difficult for her as a parent to let her children, Hinata and Shikamaru included, do those things she knew to be right but were dangerous. Sure, it was easy enough to lecture them on how they should do the right thing at all times, but that made it no easier for her to let them face the hardships that arose from their actions. As a ninja she understood just how dangerous her trust in them could be, for despite all their skill, they could always run into a mission like the one in Wave had become. A mission where despite their formidable skills they were simply not prepared to fight against whatever opponent showed up to stop them. All Kushina could be grateful for with this mission was that Naruto would be in the company of herself and two other experienced and powerful ninja, and perhaps that could keep the mission from turning too dangerous for him.

Shoving a final explosive note into her weapons pouch, perhaps a bit harder than was strictly necessary, Kushina leaned back against the wall of the cave, massaging her temples to avoid the oncoming headache. If she were honest with herself, it was less the fact that Naruto was accompanying them to Grass country that bothered her, and had more to do with what had happened to everyone here in Wave country. It hurt to think that she had already failed her children and let them be injured by that bastard Orochimaru. Kushina couldn't even bring herself to imagine what they would do if they couldn't help Hinata and Shikamaru, and she refused to dwell on the possibility more than necessary.

Though she hadn't heard or seen him coming, Kushina wasn't surprised when Minato showed up beside her, as if he had known she was been troubled. He took a seat next to her, and neither of them tried to break the silence by saying anything, both listening to the sounds of the forest from outside their cave as they sat deep in thought.

Despite herself, Kushina felt herself relaxing while they sat there. If there was one person that Kushina felt qualified to be called a hero, it would be Minato. No one else she knew was as capable of being wherever he was needed, and so willing to help anyone who required it. He had his faults, but he accepted those and kept moving forward, helping everyone around him pick up the pieces when things went wrong. Right now they needed that kind of strength in order to see this mission through and help their children get better. "Thank you." she said, and Minato gave her a smile to show he understood.

Kushina turned to sit facing Minato, "Have you figured out how we're going to get there yet?" Minato reached out to hold her hand, lacing his fingers through hers. "Yeah. It could potentially attract a lot of attention, but given the circumstances, we have to worry first about speed." Kushina nodded, having a reasonably good idea what Minato had in mind. She didn't like it, but she knew it was indeed the fastest way to get there, so she didn't say anything about it. "What about resistance? It's not like Grass has anything against us in particular, but then again, they don't like anyone to come in unannounced."

Minato nodded, "We'll deal with that when we get there, but I have an idea as to what we can do when the time comes to it. It's not the best plan, but we don't have much choice if we want to help those two." He frowned at the last part, and Kushina squeezed his hand before saying "I know how you feel. It's hard to not think we let them down by letting this happen to them. I know we have to let them grow up and I know they will only face worse situations, but is it wrong of me to want to protect them from that?"

Minato moved so he was right next to her, and Kushina hung her head, not wanting Minato to see how annoyed she was with herself for acting this way. She wasn't annoyed that she wished to protect them, as that was a normal reaction for anyone, what she was annoyed about was her lack of trust. As a more experienced ninja, she knew the dangers of letting them be independent in a world where they would be hunted by Orochimaru just as well as she knew how much worse their lives could get. Reaching over, Kushina wiped a stray hair from Hinata's eyes, and watched the girl's pale features even as Minato wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"It's not wrong to want to protect those you love. I feel that way about you and everyone else all the time. The hard part is doing exactly what you're doing right now, letting them do what they have to, even if it puts them in danger. These children," at this Minato gestured to indicate Hinata and Shikamaru, "fought because they did what they felt was right. Neither you nor I would stop them from doing that, even if we wanted to, in order to protect them. If they should stumble on the way, then we'll be there to protect them, even if we have to give up our lives to do so." Kushina nodded. Even though she knew everything he was saying, it still helped her conscience to hear him say those things.

Trying to lighten the mood a bit, she took a deep breath and gave him a small smile, "So, since when did you learn to become such a smooth talker? I seem to remember you being a stuttering mess around me when we first started working together. Where did that Minato go? He was way cuter than smooth Minato."

Minato rolled his eyes at her and she grinned back. "Go get some sleep; it's my turn for watch." Minato said, and Kushina stretched, "Sounds like a good idea." With that, Kushina curled up next to Minato, using his body as a pillow. Minato held her to him and she smiled, "I think I'll sleep here for a while."

Minato smiled down at her as well, and Kushina closed her eyes, just focusing on this moment instead of what had happened and what they needed to do. For the first time since they had left for Wave country, Kushina felt her worries and doubts begin to slip away as she fell into a deep sleep.

X X X

Naruto yawned loudly, stretching in his sleeping bag before he opened his eyes and looked around him. The only other person he could see who was awake was Shizune, who was smiling at him as she continued to care for Hinata and Shikamaru, and Naruto gave her a smile back. Looking around, he saw everyone else asleep except for his dad, who was missing from the cave. Looking at Shizune again, and gesturing to his dad's sleeping bag, she nodded towards the entrance of the cave. Giving her another big grin in thanks, he got out of his sleeping bag and made his way out of the cave to find his dad.

Naruto didn't have to search long, as he found Minato sitting on a stump, everyone's travel packs prepared and lying next to him ready to go. He was tending a fire and seemed to be preparing breakfast for everyone when Naruto walked over to join him. Normally Naruto would have jumped at the chance to talk alone with his dad, but somehow the mood didn't seem right for their normal conversation. The mood that had settled over Naruto as he thought about what they had to do made it hard for him to think of any light and easy conversation to have with his dad, so he didn't try. Minato seemed to understand and didn't break the silence either, and instead just continued to prepare the food for everyone.

Even though it was still early, within the next half hour everyone had woken up and joined them outside. The meal had been served and light conversation was being made, even some joking, and Naruto couldn't believe that they were able to have such an attitude in light of what was going on. Looking hard at everyone in surprise he saw just how tense everyone really was when one looked past the surface. He supposed that the adults were just handling the stress of the situation by trying to ignore it for the moment and enjoy their time with one another before the start of a dangerous mission where lives were on the line. There were various reasons to be nervous about their missions success, and he couldn't get angry at them for acting so relaxed when faced with Hinata and Shikamaru's dilemma, given they simply wanted to lessen their fear by relaxing with family.

Eventually though, the conversation died off as they found themselves without topics to delay the inevitable, and Naruto knew it was time for them to get started on their trip to the Grass country at last. If they wanted to make it back in time to help the others, they would have to travel quickly both there and back, and they couldn't wait any longer to start out. They had already delayed leaving a day to allow Naruto's injuries to heal instead of leaving as early as last night.

Standing up, Naruto moved to the packs, picking his up as the adults put their heads together for one last hushed conversation. Eventually they broke off with a few goodbyes, and Tsunade walked over to Naruto, kneeling in front of him. Placing a glowing palm to his chest, she took one last chance to examine him. Finding nothing wrong with his health, she gave her permission for him to travel to the other adults, all of whom nodded at this before they went back to their own work. Tsunade gave him a long look, and despite Naruto thanking her, she didn't seem to be in a rush to let him go quite yet, "Be careful Naruto. I don't like the feel of this at all. I'll do what I can for everyone here, so don't rush in and ignore the orders you're given just to try and accomplish the mission your own way."

Seeing how much this seemed to bother her, Naruto gave her the big foxy grin he had adopted from his dad. "I promise I won't do anything stupid. Just make sure to do your job old lady, and keep everyone here in top shape for when we come back with that medicine junk you need." Glaring a bit, Tsunade flicked his forehead hard enough that Naruto stumbled back a bit. "Don't get cocky brat." Then she smiled at him, and Naruto grinned back, glad that Tsunade seemed to be feeling a bit better.

Naruto waved to the members of their party who were staying behind to care for the wounded, and throwing on his pack, Naruto ran to catch up with his parents and Jiraiya, who had already begun to leave. Falling into step with Jiraiya, Naruto couldn't help but wonder why they weren't using the treetops to make better time, and voiced his question to Jiraiya. "Why aren't we trying to make better time?" Naruto asked, and Jiraiya looked down at him, "We're about to pick up the pace kiddo, just give your dad and I a moment to get where we need to be going first."

Seeing Jiraiya wasn't going to be much more helpful, he shrugged and didn't ask any more questions. He was worried about the others, but he would listen to his Dad if he thought whatever it was he was doing was the best way to get to grass country quickly. He had complete faith that Minato would make sure that everything turned out alright, so the least he could do was not bother the others by voicing his concerns all the time.

After another few moments they had come to the edge of the woods, where a large field extended out to the horizon and was large enough it would take Naruto and the others time to cross it even moving at full speed.

Instead of moving on, however, his Dad and Jiraiya took off their packs and stepped forward. "Had enough chance to rest from yesterday, Minato?" Jiraiya asked, and his dad nodded. Moving away from the others, they both began a set of hand seals that Naruto recognized, but couldn't quite place. It soon became apparent though when they slammed their hands into the ground, and four large toads appeared before them, that they were using summons for some reason. The smallest of toads was still much larger than any of the humans in their group, and quite a bit wider as well. The interesting part though was the knapsack like objects they had on their back, each one fastened to be as secure as possible around various parts of the toad's body.

Naruto walked over to his mom while the two men talked to their summons, "What're they for?" he asked. Kushina looked at him, a tight smile on her face "Travel Toads. Not very useful in cramped places like the woods back there or when you have to avoid being spotted at all costs, but fast enough."

Naruto nodded and noticed how grim she looked. "Everything okay, mom? She gave him another one of those tight smiles, "Let's just say this isn't my favorite means of travel." At that point, Jiraiya and Minato had finished discussing whatever it was they were talking to the toads about, and were beginning to crawl up their backs to get into a knapsack each, putting their arms and legs through holes in the bag so they would be more secure. Kushina sighed and reached over to ruffle his hair a bit, "Well, I guess you'll find out soon enough. Come on, go introduce yourself to your toad and get ready to go. We have a lot of ground to cover in the next few days."

X X X

Naruto collapsed down onto the ground, eyes closed as he tried to make the world stop spinning, and not too politely muttering to himself about how he would never use one of those toads again unless he had absolutely no choice in the matter. It was the second afternoon of their trip, and they had been using the toads all throughout the day and night, only taking short breaks to stretch and use the bathroom as needed. Thankfully this was the last time they would be using the toads until it was time to return to Wave country, which was something Naruto was not looking forward to. He had taken to the traveling better than his mom had, and hadn't become sick, but he would definitely take running on his own two legs any day.

His dad walked over to whisper something into his mom's ear, and slowly rubbed his hand over her shoulder blades to try and ease her through her nausea from such a long trip on the toads. Minato was the only one brave enough to try and approach his mom when she was like this, and for good reason. Naruto had made the mistake of commenting on her weak stomach the first day out, and even now he could swear there was a faint ringing on the edge of his hearing from the chewing out she had given him for his lip.

In rather short order, Kushina had regained control of her stomach, and Minato signaled for them to follow him as he led them in the direction of Grass country's capital. They had stopped on the edge of grass country, wanting to stop using the toads for transport long before they had a chance to lose the element of stealth by being spotted. Naruto had never been great at geography, yet it was easy enough to know they were on the border closest to the capital city, and that meant patrols would be the heaviest on this border, and it wouldn't be hard to spot four large toads bounding across fields with a giant hop. His dad had said that it would only take them the last few hours of daylight they had left for today, and a portion of tomorrow, to reach the capital on foot.

They traveled in silence, and for once Naruto didn't find it difficult to try and keep his mouth shut. Not only was he under strict orders to be quiet, but his mind was too preoccupied for him to be able to put much effort into finding something to say. The time he had spent on the back of that toad had not been the most beneficial for keeping his mind off everything that had happened, and his current exercise was a perfect way to relieve some stress.

After a few hours of rather peaceful travel, they came to the stop at the base of a large hill when Minato signaled to them from the top that he had seen something. Naruto began to climb the hill to try and see what it was that his dad had spotted, but before he could go far he was grabbed by his collar by Kushina, who gave him a hard silent glare meant to keep him still. Moving away from the hill, they rejoined Minato in the cover of some tall grass. Everyone turned to face his dad as he took a moment to think over the situation. "Over that hill is a valley that we need to cross in order to reach the city. I purposefully aimed for this portion of the valley because I remembered this is the only spot for miles around that had a bridge we could use to cross it, but not surprisingly there are guards protecting both sides of it in case anyone like us came along and tried and cross unannounced."

Though the adults nodded as if that assessment made all the sense in the world to them, Naruto was confused about why this was such a big deal. "So, why don't we just sneak across the valley further along or something?"

Jiraiya laughed at him, "Feel free to try kid. It's a safe bet that they have seals all up and down this valley to prevent anyone from doing just that. In fact, I remember that Grass ninjas spent quite awhile adding such safety measures to guard against invasions from stronger ninja villages. Sure, it won't be the most powerful seals given how much ground they have to cover, but it's enough that not only would you be injured, but you would have all of the grass ninjas for miles around on top of your head before you could hope to escape."

Naruto frowned at that, but accepted what Jiraiya said, for despite whatever questionable hobbies the man had, Naruto had to respect him for his knowledge of seals. It also made sense for them to prepare for intruders however they could, and covering such a long stretch of land with actual guards would be too difficult. So the use of some sort of low level seal to slow people down and call in guards was the perfect solution he supposed. "So, what do we do then? I thought we were trying to be all stealthy about this, but I somehow doubt they'll just not notice our using their bridge if they're standing on it themselves."

Minato grinned, "This part you will like Naruto, as we do need to fight them. It would take too long to bypass them or slip past them, so the next best option is to try and buy ourselves as much time after they see us. Remember, even though ultimately we want to try and be as stealthy as possible, if we can keep them from raising the alarm we're still all right. Border guards like these are not often checked on due to the lack of manpower, so we should have plenty of time to complete our mission if we are careful."

Turning away from Naruto and towards the group as a whole, he became a bit more serious. "Me and Kushina will take out those on the far side of the bridge, and I will get us over there using my hiraishin technique. Jiraiya, you and Naruto take this side of the bridge. I only want them unconscious, and when you're done we will restrain them somewhere and make sure they can escape in a few days so we don't run the risk of killing them. They won't be as intent on capturing us if we let their guards live, and it may make them less suspicious of us should we be caught at some point."

Everyone nodded in agreement, and then broke off into their groups. Naruto's parents began to sneak up to the top of the hill to give his dad the best sight line to use his technique, and Naruto follow Jiraiya as he led him to the sparse cover of tree a few dozen feet from the nearest side of the bridge.

Jiraiya gave him the hand signal to stay where he was, and Naruto didn't try to argue with it, knowing the old man would have a better idea of when to attack then he would. They had a moment to sit and watch the guards before Jiraiya gave him the signal to move, which seemed to be the same moment that his parents appeared on the far side of the bridge in the middle of a group of very surprised looking ninja. Jiraiya and Naruto took off at a run, jumping into the fight by coming up behind a group of confused ninja who had turned to figure out what had happened to their fellow ninja on the far side of the bridge.

The first thing Naruto noticed immediately is how the teams seemed to be divided differently from those he had been told that Konoha implemented. While his parents were facing near a dozen ninja who seemed to range from chuunin to jounin, he and Jiraiya were facing two genin teams with their instructors that only numbered half a dozen. Each Jounin seemed to be assigned two genin judging by the way each one of the older ninja was standing guard over two younger ones.

Before he could say or do anything, Jiraiya had beaten him to the two teams, drawing away the two jounin to fight by himself. Left with little else to do, Naruto ran over to face the four genin, all of whom were staring at him with confusion written on their faces.

Naruto grinned at them, both to throw them off a bit more and in no small part excitement about the way things had turned out. Compared to the crazy opponents he had been facing lately, he was looking forward to getting wild with normal ninja for once, and he had no doubt it would help with some of the pent up frustration he had.

The smile though wasn't taken well by one of the genin, however, and he stepped forward a bit to glare at Naruto. He was the biggest genin there, standing a good six inches taller than Naruto at close to six feet; he was built for power rather than speed. Compared the other boy and two girls he was with, all of whom were closer to Naruto's height and weight, he seemed like a giant. No doubt the size and strength acted as a good way to intimidate ninja closer to his own age.

Aside from their differences in body type though, they all dressed pretty much the same. The four genin across from him wore dark green clothing that was similar to the green vest and pants Naruto was wearing, all of which were pointed out to him as providing good camouflage in a country like this one. Naruto had no doubt that he should feel lucky that they weren't in the middle of a field where the four of them could blend in to attack him using stealth, rather than straight on like he was hoping.

"Who the hell are you, Blondie?!" The largest boy asked, and Naruto smirked, causing the other boy to snarl a bit. "Just a passer through. You guys were in the way and we're in a rush, so we are just going to have to make sure you guys don't slow us down anymore."

"Any reason you're trespassing into our country?" one of the kunoichi said in a calm voice, obviously trying to keep her larger teammate from doing anything stupid. As she was saying this though, she stepped forward, and conveniently blocked Naruto's view of the other two ninja, which didn't slip past Naruto.

The black haired genin snorted, "Who gives a shit what this little ninja wannabe is here for, no one is allowed through, so I say we just kick his ass and let sensei ask the questions later." Naruto ignored the boy and kept his eyes on the other three ninja. "We're here to help some friends, and we need to get to the capital as soon as possible." Naruto said, and the kunoichi raised an eyebrow at that. "It's so urgent that you couldn't think to try and enter it through the correct channels?"

Naruto shrugged, "Yeah, and besides, they probably wouldn't want us showing up there anyways." The girl sighed, "Be that as it may, unless you're entering properly, Dou-san is right. We can't let you pass through here."

Having been ready for an attack for a while now, Naruto found it easy to dodge the two wind jutsu that were aimed at him by the two ninja from behind the girl he had spoken to. Having jumped back, Naruto had plenty of time to prepare for the larger ninja, Dou-san's, attack, and Naruto jumped out of the way as a large hay maker came towards his head. Quickly molding his chakra, Naruto raced through the hand seals as he produced a dozen shadow clones. While he was not good at using jutsu so quickly, it did give him the benefit of surprise when facing opponents who were suited for reading an enemies moves. The shadow clones were also by far his best jutsu, so he was happy to see the shocked looks on his opponent's faces when they seemed to appear suddenly out of thin air.

They got over their shock quickly though, and began to spread out in front of him, hoping to circle around him. Not wanting to give them the chance to get behind him and gain control of the fight, Naruto did what he could to break them apart. He and all of his clones jumped forward, getting directly into the fray, and Naruto and a single clone went to challenge Dou while the others took on the faster more lightweight opponents.

Rushing in, Naruto ducked underneath a crescent kick meant to knock his head off his shoulders, and aimed a roundhouse kick at the boy's supporting leg, hoping to knock him off his feet. The other boy was just fast enough to jump up and avoid the attack, but he hadn't been focusing on the clone and was too slow to avoid the flying sidekick that the clone used to send him crashing onto the ground with. Rushing up to his opponent, Naruto tried to land a finishing axe kick to the boy's solar plexus, but Dou rolled to avoid the attack, and used a kunai to force back the clone as he got back to his feet, where he glared at Naruto and his clone.

"Little bastard, you think you're so tough, but you have no idea who you're fighting, do you. I was..." Naruto tuned him out at that point. Naruto liked to brag a bit too, but he thought it was stupid to try and impress your opponent after you just got your ass kicked by them. Instead he used the chance to see how his clones were fairing against the other ninja. Like he had thought, the others were not as strong as Dou was in terms of physical strength, but they more than made up for that deficit by being quick and showing a wide arsenal of jutsu. Judging by the scratches and bruises he saw on them, though, they weren't quite fast enough to avoid getting hurt by Naruto's clones. Still, they were putting up enough of a fight that it was clear the clones were on the defensive in order to guard against being caught between three different attackers at once.

Hearing Dou's tirade trail off he turned back to look at the boy, and purposefully made himself look bored just to annoy him. "You say something, ugly?" Dou growled at him again, and jumping back to give himself space, the grass ninja began to form a set of hand seals. Before Naruto could get to him to stop him from making the seals, multiple balls of earth rose around Dou, causing Naruto to tense. A split second later small pellets of hardened earth separated from the spheres and launched themselves at Naruto, aimed to tear through him and his clone. Suddenly Naruto and his clone were forced to go on the defensive as they began to dodge the projectiles.

Naruto tried to work his way towards the boy, but whatever Dou lacked in skill he made up for in sheer chakra, because he kept summoning more earth, and after close to a minute of having to dodge the earth pellets, Naruto was getting frustrated. Signaling to his clone, the clone nodded and used a henge to turn into a kunai which Naruto grabbed and threw past the boy. Not missing a beat, Dou turned and focused his attention on the kunai, shooting it out of the air and causing it to disappear in a puff of smoke. Before he could turn back around though, Naruto had covered the distance between them, and snaking his arms around his neck, Naruto began to choke the boy. Placing a heel against his knee, he forced Dou down to the ground in order to keep a firm hold on him.

Naruto felt Dou struggle against his grip, but he held on tight to the bigger boy, not letting up for even a moment. After a few seconds his attempts to escape began to taper off, and Naruto could feel his body relaxing as he slipped into unconsciousness. Just as he was satisfied that he had the boy out cold, Naruto felt the rush of memories come to him as a clone was destroyed by one of the kunoichi. Behind him was one of those girls, who had just broken through his clone's line of defense in order to come to the aid of her teammate.

Dropping the unconscious boy, Naruto performed a back flip to jump over the girl as she came rushing forward, kunai aimed to stab him in the back had he not moved. Naruto landed a few feet behind her and signaled to a clone while she wasn't looking. Turning around, she alternated her gaze between him and her teammate, and Naruto nodded towards Dou to indicate she could check on him. She gave him a very small smile and a nod before she knelt down; eyes still on him, and put two fingers to his neck. Satisfied that he was alive and simply unconscious, she stood up and bowed her head in gratitude to Naruto. "You have my thanks for that. He's a bit stubborn, but not a bad guy for all his boastful claims to be god's gift to the ninja world."

Naruto grinned, "I told you, we weren't here to cause trouble." She nodded, "We still have to stop you, but you have my thanks for doing this with as little violence as possible." Naruto shrugged, not wanting to stop her from talking if she so chose during a fight. Currently one of his clones was sneaking up on her from behind and Naruto had always been good at causing distractions in order to pull off a prank or two. "You could let us go you know. I like a good fight as much as anyone, but we really are in a rush." She frowned, and Naruto watched her carefully, trying to figure out what it was that bothered her so much by that concept when she seemed to be quite a nice person overall.

It was oddly reminiscent of his fights with the Tenten and the others. For some reason he got the feeling that orders or not, there was some deeper reason she couldn't let them go without violence. Even had their superiors ordered them to hold the bridge, unless someone had a damned good reason, it would be foolish to fight what they knew to be a losing battle and not leave to signal for help at the very least. "Or is it that you can't let us pass even if you wanted to?" He said, and she winced. "The council has become much stricter these past few weeks. If we don't stop you at this bridge, then our lives are forfeit. It's been like this ever since..." she said, and whatever she was going to say next was cut off when Naruto's clone finally got behind her and used an elbow strike on the back of her head to knock her out.

Naruto glared at his clone, "Couldn't you wait just five more seconds, you idiot?! I almost got some useful information out of her!" The clone shrugged in an apology, and Naruto gave it one last death glare before jumping over to help his remaining clones with the final two ninja.

Seeing that now they were not only outnumbered, but outclassed by his clones, the two final ninja were putting everything into their attacks. They stood back to back to one another and fought with no restraint as they hoped to at least inflict massive damage before being taken down. They launched the largest jutsu they could at any clone that dared get too close, and though they weren't able to hit any from a large distance, if any had hoped to get close there was no chance they would make it without being hit. Naruto knew they didn't have time to wait for them to run out of chakra, and though it had only been two or three minutes since the start of the fight, they couldn't afford to waste any time here. So Naruto did the next best thing he could think of to end the fight quickly.

Forcing his chakra to pool just underneath his skin, Naruto tried something he had never done before, and turned on his blood line preemptively. Hopefully whatever damage he took would be healed faster this way, he reasoned. Molding his chakra, Naruto also formed a wall of wind in front of him, and he jumped at the male ninja. He had shown a certain penchant for fire jutsu, and as Naruto expected, he released a large gout of flame at Naruto, holding the jutsu in hopes of either killing Naruto or forcing him to retreat. Naruto did neither though, and he kept pushing forward. His jutsu turned aside a large portion of the flames, and whatever did hit him was quickly healed by his blood limit, making it easy for Naruto to weather the attack.

Seeing his attack wasn't going to stop Naruto, the boy was at least bright enough to try and change to a different jutsu, but was too slow in performing the needed seals. Before he could finish, Naruto was already beside him, and he used a chakra loaded back fist to the boys' temple to knock him out instantly as well as move him out of the way to give Naruto access to his partner. The kunoichi began to turn around to try and face him, but had no chance to stop him before Naruto kicked her into a group of waiting clones, who quickly subdued her and knocked her out.

Naruto reached down to pat away the few smoldering portions of his vest, proud that he had finished the fight so quickly and with only a few slightly crispy portions of his uniform to show for it. Giving his clones the orders to tie everyone up, Naruto headed to where Jiraiya was doing the same with the two Jounin he had defeated. As he was walking towards him, Naruto gave the old man a big grin and a thumbs up, which Jiraiya returned before leaning back down to put the final touches on the restraints.

Once he had finished, Jiraiya walked over and placed a hand on top of Naruto's head, "You did good, kid. I guess we finally beat some good sense into you about fighting after all." Naruto growled at his playful taunts and tried to bat Jiraiya's hand away, but the man was too fast, and before Naruto knew it, Jiraiya had Naruto over his shoulder. Laughing at Naruto's curses, he dashed across the bridge to join Naruto's parents, whose fighting had taken them away from the bridge a good distance.

Given that most of their opponents had been chuunin, with a handful of jounin here or there, Naruto wasn't surprised his parents had managed to subdue everyone so quickly. His dad was bent over the ninja and Naruto assumed he was applying whatever seal it was that would allow the people trapped in it to escape their bindings in the next few days.

Once he had finished though, Minato did something Naruto was not expecting, and he stripped off the uniform of three of the ninja, tossing one to Jiraiya and his mom before turning to face Naruto. Noticing the look on his dad's face, Naruto didn't say anything. He knew when his dad slipped into this kind of mindset, he was ready to give orders, and even Naruto wasn't about to question them.

So Naruto just stood a bit straighter under that no nonsense look and of his dad's and waited for his orders. "Naruto. Have a clone bring you a uniform off of one of those genin so you can wear it as well, and I want you changed into it before we leave here. Next I want you to make a small number of clones using as much chakra as you possibly can, no more than two or three, though. They're to stay here and watch these people for the next few days. That means they will make sure to conserve their energy and be careful to not dispel themselves by any means. All I want them to do is to give these people food and water occasionally to tide them over until they're released. I don't know how long it will take for us to complete our mission, so we don't want to risk accidentally killing these people through negligence. If the clones should be faced with dispelling before the seal lets them out, then they have permission to set them free, but under no other circumstances should they do anything for these people beyond what I've already told you."

Naruto nodded, and Minato seemed satisfied because he took his uniform and went off to change, as did the others. Taking his time, Naruto formed the seals for the shadow clones, making sure to push as much chakra into the jutsu as possible. When three clones came into existence, he gave them their orders, and thought they grumbled about how it would be boring; all three of them readily acquiesced to their mission. Naruto, and obviously his clones, wouldn't want any deaths on his conscience if it could be helped.

Two of the clones began to prepare a small camping site of sorts for the three of them, while the third went to get Naruto his uniform. Once the clone had returned with the clothing, he gave them a nod in thanks, and they wished him luck. Walking over to a secluded area, Naruto changed into his new uniform before heading to where the others were waiting for him.

Minato turned towards the direction they had to go in, and was about to begin leading them towards their destination again, but Naruto cleared his throat to try and get his attention. His dad turned around to look at him, and Naruto saw everyone was watching him, waiting to hear what he had to say. "Something odd happened while I was fighting those four back there," he elaborated, and his mom raised an eyebrow at hearing that. Launching into a description of the discussion he had with the kunoichi, the adults looked at one another for a moment as they turned over the information in their heads.

Finally Kushina turned to look at Naruto, "That could be anything Naruto. The council in grass is known for its inability to make up its mind on politics and how to run the ninja operations. We'll keep it in mind, but it could be nothing. Now come on, we have to put some distance behind us before we can take a short rest." She gave him a short one armed hug, and Naruto nodded his understanding.

Minato turned again and took off at a jog towards the capital, and everyone fell in behind him again as they followed him.

X X X

Naruto, his mom, and Jiraiya were sitting at the top of a hill as they watched Minato walking towards them amongst a crowd of villagers who were heading into the capital. Keeping a close eye on him, they took note of who it was that Minato 'accidentally' bumped into, and after what they assumed was a brief apology, he began to head back towards the hill where they were waiting. Compared to having to sneak past the ninja who had guarded the bridge, Minato had assured them that infiltrating the capital would be much easier.

As his father made his way back to them, they kept an eye on the villager, watching him as he entered the city. A few seconds later Minato was with them, and throwing on his pack, he looked at each of them. "Ready?" he asked, and they all nodded, making sure to get a firm grasp on Minato.

They gave him a moment to mold his chakra properly, not begrudging him the few extra seconds it took him to ensure the fact he wouldn't leave any of them behind. A moment later, his hiraishin jutsu had taken them into the city, where they stood behind the villager that Minato had slipped a seal onto.

Their stolen uniforms helped to assure people that they were normal grass ninja, and no one seemed to worry about the sudden appearance of a group of friendly ninja in their midst. They gave Minato a moment to catch his breath, and though it was only a small lapse in his normal demeanor, it made Naruto sad to watch his father struggle with his prized jutsu. It put a huge strain on the user to transport multiple people any distance, and ever since his father had been injured, it had been hard for Minato to do the things he used to be able to with the hiraishin. Though Naruto was the only other one in the group who could even perform the technique, he still was far from a master of it. Despite his miracle use of the skill in Wave country, he still found it difficult to control it like his dad could, and so they had agreed that it would be best to let Minato handle the infiltration portion of the mission.

Now though the mission had been turned over to his mother, who was in charge of the list that Tsunade had made of people who potentially sold the ingredients they needed. Taking it out of her pocket, she took a moment to consult it before pointing in the direction they needed to go.

On their way, they found a secluded place to change back into their civilian clothing, not wanting to draw more attention to themselves than necessary. After about an hour of checking various stores, they reached a store that Tsunade had especially recommended to them. Standing outside of the small building, Kushina turned to give him a serious look. "Naruto, we're going to go in and see about getting what we need here. You stay out here and keep an eye open, let us know if anything unusual happens, alright?" Naruto nodded, and took a seat on a nearby bench as everyone else entered the store. Even though he tried to keep his mind on watching for anything strange, Naruto found himself people watching more than anything, going over what he thought of the city.

The town definitely felt different from Suna, and not in a way that made Naruto comfortable. Maybe it was his nerves getting to him, but it seemed as if everyone here felt much colder to him. Unlike Suna, no one seemed to be willing to interact with each other, or take their time to enjoy themselves, and instead quickly went about their business under the oppressive gazes of the numerous ninja that patrolled everywhere.

He was beginning to understand why he had never heard his mother speak favorably of this place, and the comments about the council she had made earlier made a lot more sense now. It made his blood boil to think that the leaders here could rule with enough of an iron fist to make people scared of enjoying their freedom. It wasn't as horrible an anger as the kind he reserved for Orochimaru for what he had done to Konoha and to his friends, but this place seemed to share the same mindset and it disgusted him.

Throwing his shoulders back against the store wall, Naruto let out a long breath to try and release his anger. He was caught off guard though when a boy about his own age who had been talking to someone he assumed was his father, broke off to sit next to him on the bench. His father entered the store and the boy crossed his arms, looking at the people passing by them. Just as Naruto thought he was going to wait there quietly, he spoke up. "Waiting for someone" he asked, and Naruto nodded. "Yeah. My parents are looking for some ingredient for some herbal medicine or something equally nasty." Naruto said, making sure to be vague to the stranger. Making a face at the mention of foul tasting medicine, the boy next to him smirked at his reaction.

"My father is making me suffer the same foolishness." The slightly scrunched look of disgust caused the other boys jet black hair to cover his eyes and made for an odd look, and Naruto laughed. "I feel your pain, man."

For the next few minutes the two of them made small talk. Though they didn't seem to have much in common, Naruto found himself enjoying his company. The boy was quiet, and rather sarcastic, but his wit was enough that Naruto enjoyed egging him on to see what insult the other could come back with. Finally though, the boy's father came out of the store, and he stood up to rejoin him.

Turning to face Naruto, he gave him another smirk. "Have fun waiting there Dobe." he said. And Naruto mock scowled, "Yeah, well you have to have that medicine now, bastard. I hope it tastes like fish heads."

That caused the boy to chuckle softly, and he turned around to leave. As he did so, Naruto's eyes locked onto the odd design on the back of his navy blue shirt. Something about it seemed familiar, but he couldn't place it.

Shaking himself, he told himself not to worry about it, and not wanting to miss his chance, got up and called out to the other boy. "Name's Naruto by the way. Maybe we'll meet again."

The boy looked over his shoulder. "Sasuke. And somehow I get the feeling we'll be meeting again soon enough."

X X X

A bit longer chapter, in return for the short one I gave you last time. Hopefully it makes up for it. However, given I am a horribly evil person, you get left with that cliffhanger. I will say though, not everything is as it seems in Grass country, obviously.

Also, I want to thank everyone for their reviews. I haven't done it in awhile, and I mean to fix that. I do read them, and it makes me feel pumped up to write more when I get to hear the feedback from people who actually read my attempts at creating literature. Also, the story has reached over 8,000 views, which is quite surprising. Once again, thank you for sticking around to this point. There is still quite a bit of road to cover yet before this story is even close to being over.

As a note, if anyone ever is curious about the status of the next chapter, I update my profile whenever I reach a landmark of sort in writing or editing, and I try to include an approximate time you will see it on . The next chapter I suspect will take some time, though the rough draft may be finished sometime at the end of this week or even as late as the weekend.


	21. Gifts and Unlikely Meetings

I apologize about the wait folks. I got busy at work, and this chapter ended up longer than I had intended to to be. It was going to be a short chapter that led into the next two bigger chapters, but it took on a life of it's own once I realized there were some important things I had to set up here. I hope you all enjoy the chapter.

All rights to the same people I've been giving them to for the past twenty chapters.

**Rekindle: Gifts and Unlikely Meetings**

Naruto was spread out on top of the bed, holding back another groan as his impatience got the best of him. His mom was already throwing him a look that he took to be a silent order to try and behave, yet Naruto couldn't stand the idleness when they had so much to get done. Turning his head, he saw that his parents were still patiently working on cleaning and servicing their equipment, and he fought back another groan. Naruto had said he would listen to their orders, but sitting around in a hotel was not one of the orders he had counted on having to deal with.

What was worse was that he would be seeing a lot of this hotel for the next few days. His parents had decided that they would try to remain in the hotel as often as they could without raising suspicion, which meant Naruto had little to do. He could deal with the fact that his few excursions into the town would be with one of his parents or Jiraiya, but he couldn't help but get restless at the fact that they didn't seem inclined to let him out unless absolutely necessary.

Naruto wondered just how long it would take that medicine dealer to find the ingredients he had promised them. His parents said it would be a few days, but he really wondered just how much time they had to get everything back to Tsunade. Sure, he trusted Tsunade when it came to medicine and all, but that didn't help his nerves any.

Looking over to Jiraiya's bags, he wondered what the old man was up to at the moment. He had left saying he was visiting some of his spies in order to make sure they were still loyal to him, stressing the point that he had to make them feel obligated to help him from time to time. Kushina hadn't even warned him to stay away from the bathhouses, probably trusting the old pervert to actually focus on his work given the circumstances they were in.

Rolling over, Naruto saw his dad putting away various kunai and shuriken before pulling out a large scroll from his pack. Naruto had seen him working on it from time to time, but had never really thought much about it before now. Seeing nothing better to do, Naruto rolled off the bed, and made his way over to where Minato was spreading the scroll out on the table. Naruto got close enough to look over his father's shoulder to see what was written inside.

Naruto saw all sorts of notes and seals filling every portion of the paper, detailing various effects certain combinations of chakra created, and their side effects. He could tell that while his dad tried to keep it relatively organized, some of the most interesting results were scribbled down messily, as if Minato had been so excited that he had scarcely taken more time to write it than was strictly needed before returning to work.

Even though he had a good idea what the paper was for, he got his dad's attention anyways, "What're you working on?" His dad looked over his shoulder at him and gave him a big grin.

"This is what I do when I try to create or alter a jutsu. Almost everything I've ever worked on has passed through a scroll like this one. They'll also be yours someday; it's sort of my way of creating something for our clan to cherish through the years."

Naruto forgot all about where he was for a moment, and in a brief moment of excitement attached himself to his dad in a large hug, shouting his thanks. Minato took it in stride, and instead of trying to quiet him, Minato just laughed, and Naruto eventually calmed himself, his cheeks dusky as he scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. Even Naruto knew a series of scrolls with techniques and theories created by his dad was something most ninja would die to get their hands on, and here he was entitled to it by birth. He could hardly wait to see what was contained in all those scrolls.

His dad grinned, "I know what you're thinking Naruto, but it will still be awhile until you inherit these, if I have anything to say about it. I expect you'll make your own contributions to them in time, and I think you'll like seeing how some of my jutsu, like the seal for the Hiraishin, were made."

Leaning in to get a better look while he still could, Naruto pointed to a bit of unintelligible scribbling on the margins next to a series of seals that looks familiar to Naruto. He screwed up his face as he tried to figure out what they came from, but couldn't figure out what it was based off of. "What does this one do?"

Minato read the notes Naruto pointed out and smiled at the thought of whatever technique it was he had dreamed up. "That one is for an improvement on shadow clones. I want to find someway to make them last longer in a fight. As it is, they are useful, but the fact that they can only take one hit limits what you can accomplish with one. In theory, they would be able to take more damage if you simply add more chakra to the the modified technique. If there is a way to do it, though, I can't seem to figure it out."

Naruto moved back and rocked on his heels, thinking about how his dad was trying to improve one of his favorite techniques. Feeling motivated to not be upstaged, he started to try and make himself sound smart, "I bet I can make the shadow clone technique ten times better!"

Minato raised an eyebrow, but didn't take offense at his tone. "Oh really? Mind sharing with your old man what you had in mind?"

Taking a moment to try and think fast, an idea started to form in his head. "Ummm...well you know that using a kawarimi takes molding your chakra each time. The hiraishin though uses the seal to avoid that problem, right?" Minato grinned at having Naruto explain his own jutsu, "I'm aware."

Naruto scratched the back of his head, embarrassed by that but kept going. "Well, since you can find shadow clones easily since they have your chakra in it, why not make shadow clones with the hiraishin seal built into it, so you can switch between them in a fight! Kind of like what you do with the kage shuriken thing and your hiraishin seal!"

Naruto felt proud of his idea, and stood a bit straighter, feeling like he had done well. He was expecting his dad to dismiss the idea for one reason or another, though. He waited a full second to hear a soft rebuke, but Minato was silent.

Slowly a light seemed to turn on in his dad's eyes, and he spun himself around to start writing in his notes. Confused, he watched him continue writing for a moment before speaking up softly, obviously confused. "Wait? So that could work?"

Minato didn't look up from his work, "I intend to find out." Sparing a glance up at Naruto for a second, he smiled and placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Sometimes the best ideas are those you come up with when you have no preconceived notions of what you can or cannot do." With that, he turned back to his writing, fully absorbed in writing out various equations and symbols.

Naruto jumped slightly when Kushina came over and placed a hand on his shoulder, using him for balance as she leaned over to see what Minato was doing. Seeing he was completely absorbed in his work, she sighed, though it seemed to be in amusement more than anything else.

Looking down at Naruto, she gave him a mock scolding look. "Seems like you've found someway to distract your father from the business at hand for a few hours, at the least."

Naruto shrugged, still not really sure how he had managed to get Minato so involved in his idea, though he did feel a smile tugging at the corners of his lips knowing he had given his dad a some good inspiration. His mom ruffled his hair and gave him a grin before walking over to where she was storing her equipment and beckoned to him to join her.

Making his way over to her, his mom began to rummage through her pack, mumbling to herself as she sorted through a handful of scrolls, and finally settling on pulling one out and placing it on the desk in front of her. Naruto just watched in fascination as she unrolled it and dropped a small amount of blood from a bite mark she had made on her thumb. From the seal two tanto appeared, and though they didn't seem all that remarkable, even Naruto could tell they were well made and even better serviced over the years.

Looking up at his mom in confusion, she pushed the blades towards him. "These are a reward for doing so well in Wave. You've proven that you've earned them. They're nothing famous, but my clan had an outstanding smith, and this is one of his masterpieces. Me and your father gave it a lot of thought, and we think you're ready to have it."

Not sure what else to do, Naruto picked up the blades, intent on examining them, and he could instantly see why these would be considered a masterpiece. They were both perfectly balanced, and he couldn't spot any difference to differentiate the two from one another. Both handles were polished and used some type of wood instead of more traditional material, and were carved so as to fit comfortably in the user's hand in various grips. It was still slightly large for him, but the maker had obviously tried to make it accommodate a variety of sizes, and he could easily see himself growing into the blade with time.

What truly caught his attention though was the blade, and the hundreds of seals that flowed along its surface and down onto the handle. While the quality of the steel and craftsmanship alone would have made these amazing weapons, it was the seals that no doubt made the tanto's something extraordinary. Each seal was etched in by hand, and to last so long, it would have had to have chakra fused into the blade while they were being carved, Naruto couldn't even guess how long that would have taken to complete.

Naruto sat rather heavily on the nearby bed, slightly stunned that his parents were giving him something like this. They had always been generous, but he had gotten used to a rather spare life style when it came to accessories and equipment, and the sheer value of the gift floored him.

"I can't take these from you, mom. I'm fine with my trench knives, really I am." Naruto felt unaccustomedly awkward even thinking about accepting anything this special.

Kushina moved so she was kneeling in front of him, and placed both hands on his shoulders, waiting for him to look her in the eye. Eventually Naruto knew she wasn't going to let him go and he looked up to see her giving him a soft look of approval.

"I'm glad we raised you to be at least a little humble Naruto." Naruto felt his face twitch as he fought against smiling, and if his mom noticed, she didn't show it as she moved on. "Though I think it's the wrong time to try and turn down a gift. You earned these, and though I hadn't planned it to be so, you earned them by a trial through fire. You proved to me and Minato that you can be trusted with these. Besides, only you and I use weaponry very often in our fighting style, and you seem to like your trench knives, so it shouldn't be too difficult for you to pick up on using these. I also think you'll find that you like using these more than the knives you have already, and that's without taking into account the seals on them."

Naruto couldn't help but let his eyes wander back towards the exquisite blades, and his mom seemed to notice because his mom walked to his side and sat down next to him, placing the two tanto in her lap. She turned one of the blades over a few times in her hand then started to trace out some of the seals with her finger as she began to explain their function.

"Most of them have to do with upkeep," Kushina began. "You'd be surprised how useful it is knowing you only have to clean and service the blade every few months, and that it will always be ready for a fight. Truthfully though, those are just nice accessories to the main attraction, which are the seals designed to aid the user during combat."

"If you channel a bit of pure chakra into the blade," Kushina changed her grip so she was holding the handle firmly, and pumped chakra into the blade. The seals glowed brightly for a moment before a sheath of wind based chakra encased the steel. "The blade will react to it by changing the chakra into the element you are most attuned with. It's not unlike a test some people give with specialized paper that reacts to your chakra to determine what element suits you best."

Kushina took a moment and the chakra changed itself to water. With a small flick of her wrist, a very small amount of water launched itself where she had been pointed the blade, splashing harmlessly against the wall. Letting the chakra recede, the blade went back to its normal appearance. "The way it's designed, it should be very easy to fight using your best element, given you won't have to mold the chakra to change its nature. As you saw, you can change its type, but then you do have to expend a certain amount of effort, though it's still rather easy once you get the hang of it. And of course, there are some other tricks you can do with them, once you get proficient with the basics, of course."

She twirled the blade in between her fingers, and held the tanto towards Naruto handle first. Naruto grabbed it lightly, not sure what to do with it, more in awe of the gift than he had been before. Kushina gave him a soft smile and quietly broke him out of his thoughts, "Go on. It's time to find out what element we should be teaching you first."

Tightening his grip on the weapon, Naruto took a deep breath to calm himself. He didn't like feeling awkward, so he tried to push out the thought about whether he deserved the gift or not. If his parents thought he should have it, he would take it and be grateful for it.

Schooling his expression into one of concentration, he found his chakra and pushed as much of it from his reserves as possible into the blade. He jumped when it roared to life, and a harsh breeze came off of it when the wind chakra encased the steel, causing a blade nearly as large as a katana to appear.

Naruto wondered if it was supposed to be quite so draining, and he felt the world start to spin slightly in front of his eyes as he tried to hold the chakra blade at the length he had it. His mom, though, had broken out of her shock, and yelled at him, "Use less chakra, Naruto!" Naruto fumbled with the blade for a moment, almost dropping it in surprise, but managed to lessen the amount of chakra he was using so it only extended out slightly beyond the blade, causing him to feel better as the strain on his chakra lessened.

Kushina turned to look at Minato, sticking an accusing finger at the man, even though he was still absorbed in his work. "I blame you Minato. He's your son in the regard of having that inhuman amount of chakra, you stamina freaks." His dad just nodded absently, raising a hand to show he had heard, but not taking his eyes off his work, no doubt not even registering what Kushina had said. His mom rolled her eyes at Minato, though she shook her head as she chuckled and turned back to Naruto. "What you found out, Naruto, is that yes, the blades do grow with chakra; though from the looks of it, making it that large took a lot out of you. You can make them larger easier if you change the element of your chakra first, though that does take time. I have to admit, I've never seen anyone make it grow quite so large on normal chakra alone, though I don't recommend doing that in a fight given the sheer drain it has on your reserves."

Naruto nodded, too much in awe with what the blade could do to worry about its limitations. Reaching over to pick up the second one, he stared at the weapons he was holding for a second before giving his mom a huge grin. "Thank you!" he said, and his mom smiled. "I knew you would come around. Now come over to the desk, I want to at least go over the theory of what you can do with wind jutsu and your new toys."

X X X

Jiraiya walked out of the bar, keeping his face down as he blended into the crowd, not wanting to attract attention. His informant worked at said bar, and had given him quite a bit of food for thought and none of it good. Jiraiya wasn't really sure what to take out of the rumors he had heard, but whatever it was that was happening, it seemed to be big.

What bothered him most though was how difficult it was to get the information out of his informant. The man had been agreeable enough, and willing to tell him what he knew, but compared to his normally concise and blunt nature, he had been awfully vague on several important points. He didn't doubt that the man was loyal, but rather he wondered what was going on that they had managed to contain the rumors enough that it hadn't passed through the local rumor mill. What he had gathered from his informant's stories, though, was that the biggest points of concern for Jiraiya and the others were the council here in grass country, and an upcoming chuunin exam. He wasn't sure if a connection existed between the two events, but it had him worried to think what could be happening.

Turning out of the foot traffic, Jiraiya ducked into a nearby restaurant as a squad of low level ninja passed by. Using the opportunity, Jiraiya picked up food for everyone before making his way back out onto the street, passing by numerous bathhouses without noticing them as he tried to organize his thoughts.

No doubt whatever the young kunoichi they had fought at the border had been referencing when she was talking to Naruto was only scratching the surface of the problems in Grass country at the moment. She probably had little idea of just how bad things had gotten, given her relative rank in the village. Still, given the serious nature of the problem, Jiraiya was surprised that the general populace hadn't caught on to the fact that something was wrong. It was possible that Jiraiya had missed the signs that the common person did indeed know something was happening, but he highly doubted as much. The only thing that could stop news like this would be if there was someone purposefully hiding recent events from the average person.

No one was sure why exactly, but the grass country's ninja had reach an all time low when it came to the survival rates for many of its missions. While it was a depressing thought, death was part of the business ninja dealt in. Hidden villages had all at one point hit relative lows when it came to survivability, usually when they first were founded, but it wasn't unheard of for even large villages like Konoha to hit a rough period well after their founding years.

What did catch Jiraiya's attention though, was that the deaths all were unexplained, and seemed to be centered most strongly on the jounin classes and above. Normally elite ninja, while taking on dangerous missions, were well trained enough to be able to escape harm and at least return alive should they fail a mission. That isn't to say they were immortal, but they tended to demonstrate an ability to stay alive that the lower ranks hadn't discovered yet. So having nearly every one of them die within a few months of each other, when factored in with the fact no one could determine why they died, spoke of foul play against the village.

Evidently, the normally inept council had picked up on this fact as well and had tried to create reforms to address the issue. A conscripted civilian army was stationed throughout various cities, and while too weak to defend against a true invasion of ninja, would slow an opposing force enough to mobilize their own weakened ninja group to combat invaders. It would take time to train more ninja, and utilizing such armies was not an unusual tactic to protect a country in lean times.

Given that, the actions taken with respect to the upcoming chuunin exams made little sense to Jiraiya. While on the surface, sending their genin to the examination seemed like a good way to create a higher ranked fighting force, to any seasoned ninja, it was a horrible move to make. It would be much smarter for them to hold the genin back for a few years and give them field promotions instead.

While they wouldn't technically be chuunin, they would be allowed access to the missions normal chuunin would take part in. Though that could be dangerous in and of itself, it tended to prepare the young ninja better for the potentially fatal chuunin examinations, and allowed the village to hold on to it's manpower until such time that it had recovered from whatever crisis it found itself in.

Jiraiya wondered about the rumors that it would be held in Konoha as well. As a large and successful village, Konoha had played host to the examination a number of times since Jiraiya and the others had fled the city. So far nothing had happened to any of the examinees that was out of the ordinary, but he wouldn't put it past Orochimaru to have his hand in this. The question was how.

'Gah! None of this makes sense. It reeks of foul play, but I can't even begin to guess what is going on with only this much information.' Jiraiya thought. Sighing, he made his way up to the door of their hotel room, deciding he would bring up his thoughts with the others on the matter.

Opening the door, Jiraiya was greeted with an odd sight. He could see Minato bent over in the middle of a book on the far side of the room, absently writing notes in one of his scrolls. He seemed to be totally engrossed in his work and didn't even notice what was going on around him.

What caught Jiraiya's eye though was what the other two occupants were doing. Floating on what he assumed was a small cushion of air was the only manuscript Jiraiya had for the next installment to the Icha Icha series. He had forgotten to remove it from his pack before coming on the mission, and it was the only copy he had of it. Even as he moved to say something, he knew it was too late. Feeling the buildup of chakra, he watched in horror as the papers shred themselves into enough little pieces there was no hope of restoring it.

Jiraiya knew that today definitely was not his day.

X X X

Naruto was rather distracted as he and the other members of his team made their way through town. He was torn between looking down at his feet in thought and examining the city, trying to memorize the strange architecture so he could describe it later. When he had first passed through the city on their way to find someone selling what they needed, he had been too preoccupied to think much about what was going on around him. Now though, they were on their way to pick up the medicine after three long days of waiting, and he found himself more relaxed than he had been since the whole fight with Orochimaru had first occurred.

Still, normally architecture and other things like that didn't catch his attention, yet he wanted to have the memory of it to bring back to share with the others. The absence of his friends was making him think of all the things they were missing as they lay sick, hundreds of miles away.

What confused him when he thought about what was causing him to be distracted was not that he was thinking about his friends. That part he knew was normal enough. What did bother him was how his thoughts were skewed more to how Hinata as doing, and wanting to tell her all the things he had seen when he got back, knowing she would enjoy it.

Naruto was worried for the both of them, sure, but somehow he felt he was not being a good enough friend to Shikamaru by worrying more about Hinata was faring. The idea that she was fighting for her life against some stupid poison left him feeling distinctly uncomfortable on top of being angry and worried, it was like his chest was aching when he thought of it.

The blond boy frowned as he shaded his eyes to look at a building that reminded him of a shuriken in design, then looked back to the ground, lost in his thoughts once more. Truth be told, he wasn't sure what to do about the feelings he was having. Naruto could accept that Hinata meant something special to him, but he just wasn't sure how to describe it. He had thought up every excuse he could to try and rationalize his additional fear for her, and even gone as far as trying to convince himself that maybe it came from thinking she was more in danger from the potion than Shikamaru was.

He shook away that thought almost as soon as he had it. Naruto knew Hinata was anything but weak, even if she seemed to doubt her own abilities at times, or so his parents put it. Still, it had brought him no closer to finding an answer than he had been before. It was almost as bad as the awkwardness that he felt around her lately, and he knew that the fear and awkwardness were related, but he wasn't ready to try and figure that out yet.

Taking a deep breath, he tried to force the thought of her from his head, telling himself now was not the time to be thinking of this sort of thing. Though Naruto knew it was a bit cowardly of him, he had been avoiding the problem for a long time now, surely a few more hours was easy enough.

Then again, he did like imagining how her pale eyes would light up when she heard he had stories to share about grass country. Which made him look at another building, and the cycle began again as he started to worry over his feelings.

Naruto didn't notice it when the others stopped, and ended up running into Jiraiya, causing Naruto to stumble back. Jiraiya turned around to give him a slightly annoyed look, and Naruto gave him a goofy grin to try and apologize. Jiraiya turned back around, letting Naruto take the chance to move out from behind him and look at their location more carefully.

They were in front of a large warehouse located on the outskirts of the city. It appeared to be in good repair, but the location was so typical of the lessons he had received on ambushes Naruto couldn't help but gawk. Looking up the others, he saw Jiraiya rolling his eyes as well at the cliché meeting place, and his parents just exchanged worried glances. His dad turned to Jiraiya first, "What do you think sensei? You know more about the state of affairs here in grass than any of us."

Jiraiya shrugged, "Doesn't do me much good, now does it? We have to go in there and get that medicine. I don't think they would attack ninja in the city, as all those who've gone missing were out on missions at the time, but we should be ready."

His dad nodded then turned to Naruto, giving him a look that brooked no arguments. "Follow our lead, and be ready to do what we tell you." Naruto nodded, taking his cue from the others as they made sure their weapons were easily accessible. Jiraiya also made sure to have a pouch housing various scrolls with different seals unbuttoned and ready to be used. Checking that he could grab his new tanto quickly, Naruto also readied himself to enter the building.

They made their way into the warehouse slowly, expecting something to happen but were only met by the merchant he had seen in the store his parents had placed the order at. He was an overweight middle aged man, and if not for the fact that he appeared to be wearing rather expensive clothing, would have blended in with the crowd as a rather uninteresting individual. He just stood there wringing his hands as he watched them, and after Minato coughed slightly to get his attention, the man jumped, bursting into motion.

He led them further back into the warehouse and ushered them into a small but well furnished office. Reaching for some tea, he offered them refreshments, but seemed left unsure what to do when the adults refused his offer. Not wanting to go against his orders to mimic the others, he turned the man down as well when he offered tea to him next. The man edged himself towards the door, clearing his throat as he placed a hand on the door knob. "Ahem. Yes, well, I guess you will be wanting to be picking up your goods then, won't you?"

Minato just nodded, and the man struggled to not grimace before bowing and backing out of the door. Naruto was about to say something to the merchant before he left earshot, but Jiraiya placed a hand on his shoulder and with a nearly imperceptible nod warned him against it. Jiraiya snorted, "Real smooth that one. I would say we've been set up, though that's pretty obvious by now."

Instead of replying, his parents began to examine the office, looking for anything that would give them a clue of what they had found themselves in the middle of. When they found nothing, they frowned, not sure what to do. "It's not like we can leave," Kushina pointed out. "He still is the only distributor of what we need." Everyone nodded, resigned to waiting for the dishonest man to return, but not without taking care to prepare themselves for a fight.

It took a lot of effort for Naruto to not fidget as they waited for their contact to return, and instead let his index finger trace the seals on the hilts of his weapons. Finally, the man returned to the office, a weak smile on his face holding half a dozen reinforced vials of the medicine they had come for.

His mom gave the man a very small bow of the head in thanks, before snatching it away from him. Opening one of the vials, she began to perform various tests of its consistency, smell, and other qualities, before finally deeming it to be what they were looking for. She nodded to Minato, who turned to face the merchant and gave him a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, but seemed to calm the merchant a small amount. "Thank you for your business. We understand it must not have been easy to gather so much in a short time. We must be going, however, so if you'll excuse us."

The man seemed to be all too willing to let them go, and he bowed deeply multiple times before moving to the door to open it for them. Before he could move out of the way to let them pass, his eyes rolled up into his head, and he collapsed from the kunai that had pierced him in the spine. Naruto and the others were ready for an attack, and moving quickly, vacated the office, offering small fast moving targets as they hunched down to avoid further attacks. Spreading out from one another slightly, they looked up to see Orochimaru standing a few dozen feet away, his arms cross as he smiled at them, no doubt hoping to see their shocked faces.

"Surprised, Minato-kun?" Orochimaru drawled, his grin growing wider as he no doubt enjoyed the thought of having fooled them. Minato gave Orochimaru a small smile like one would to a small child who had asked a foolish question, "No, not really. The whole cliché of trying to trick us here just stunk of something you would come up with."

Orochimaru's triumphant look transformed into a hard glare, and everyone could feel his chakra begin to rise a bit as he lost control of his temper. His mom was the next one to step forward, not bothering to conceal her contempt for the Sannin like Minato was. "Any reason you're here you asshole? Haven't you caused us enough trouble for a few weeks, or are you out of little ninjas to molest? Though to borrow a few from grass maybe?"

Orochimaru's cheeks flushed at the accusation, but he somehow kept a reign on his temper, giving himself a moment before he gave Kushina a sneer. "Ahh, I had forgotten how much I missed speaking with you, Kushina. Tell me, how are the other two children doing? You always had a weakness for children, it would be such a shame should they pass away without you there to see it."

Kushina instantly stiffened, and Naruto could swear he could hear her teeth grinding together as her temper started to boil over. Minato placed a hand on her arm, and even though she glared at him for a moment for stopping her, the distraction seemed to do the trick, because she didn't attack the snake summoner.

The fact that she hadn't retaliated either verbally or physically seemed to bolster Orochimaru, and he was smirking again as he continued. "It's their fault they couldn't dodge a simple kunai. I figured you would come here for that medicine you're holding, so I decided I would stop by to give my regards."

Now it was Naruto's turn to lose his temper. Before he could even think of what he was doing, he had stepped out from behind his parents, face flushed with anger. "You bastard! You used my friends just to set us up, didn't you?! I'm going to kill you, you snake freak!"

Though Orochimaru must have known Naruto was there, when he locked eyes with the boy, Orochimaru stiffened, a terrible anger in his eyes. Glaring at Naruto, Orochimaru tried to send enough killer intent to drop Naruto, but he stood there, short of breath but not giving him the pleasure of seeing him yield. "Ahh yes, the brat. Pity, I hoped you would have died from your wounds. Once I'm done with the real ninja, I'll have to fix that."

Naruto was about to take another step forward to curse at the sannin when Jiraiya placed a hand on his shoulder and yanked him back, glaring at Naruto for his actions. "Stop being an idiot, Naruto. Your first priority is to get of here and hide while we take care of Orochimaru. We'll find you when things are settled here, so go." Naruto was about to protest, looking at his parents for support but found them nodding, even as they kept their eyes on their enemy. Naruto growled a bit in frustration, wanting to argue against the order, but not sure what he could do to convince them. He knew that he wouldn't be of much help, his last fight against Orochimaru had made that painfully clear, but surely he could do something to make the fight easier for the others.

"Naruto." Minato said, and Naruto looked at his dad, not liking the look of command on his face. "This is one of those orders I told you about, and I expect you to follow it. I know you're strong, but this is our fight this time." Kushina looked at Minato, and he nodded. She stepped back to face Naruto, pulling out the vials of medicine, holding them out towards him. She gave him a grim smile, "We love you Naruto, and that's why we're trusting you to keep these safe while we take care of this traitor here. Right now this is the most important thing you can do to help us." His dad nodded, "Do it for your friends if nothing else. Show them that you're brave enough to retreat for now."

Naruto felt his throat tighten as they told him all these things. He didn't want to leave them, regardless of what they said, but he knew they were right, and he couldn't make them change their mind. It was enough for him for now that they trusted him with the medicine they came for, and eventually he would be strong enough that he could fight by their sides. Taking the vials, he gave all of them a long look, and without thinking about it told him what was on his mind. "I love you guys." Normally he wouldn't say anything so embarrassing, but somehow he knew that know was the right time to tell them.

His parents gave him one last smile, and Naruto took in their faces for a moment before he took off running, not even attempting to look behind him to see if he was being followed. He knew his parents and Jiraiya would not allow Orochimaru to pass them. The most important question now was where to go. If he could escape the village, that would be best.

Turning the corner at another warehouse, Naruto skidded to a stop, only keeping himself from colliding with another boy by a few inches. Jumping back into a fighting stance fueled by adrenaline and instinct, he was surprised to see that the other boy was actually Sasuke, wearing the mark of a grass country ninja. The boy ran up to grab his elbow, and pulled him in the direction Naruto had just come from. "A secret exit from the village is this way. You don't want to be around when those four really start going at it."

Naruto stared at Sasuke, stumbling behind him, too stunned to resist as the boy took him through a secret tunnel and out into an open field. He wasn't sure what was going on exactly, but whatever it was, it was big, and he knew he had to figure it out quickly. He appreciated the boys help, but he was suspicious of it.

How did a genin from the country of grass know about who Orochimaru was, or more importantly, who his parents and Jiraiya were? Sure, they were famous, but it had been over ten years since they really showed themselves, so how did a kid his own age know who they were. Yet obviously Sasuke knew full well that they would have been witness to one of the most intense fights possible between ninja had they stuck around. That left only one possibility then...

Realizing the truth had put Naruto on edge, and right after he had figured it out, he was forced to lean to the side to dodge a kunai Sasuke had sent at him. The raven haired boy had been steadily running faster to get enough leeway to use his kunai effectively, he guessed. Realizing his attack had missed, Sasuke smirked at him, placing his hands in his pockets in a cocky manner. "It seems you have pretty good reflexes, for a loser that is."

"Who are you?" Naruto asked, glaring at the boy, his hands slowly moving towards his weapons. He was sure that Sasuke saw what he was doing, but the boy made no move to stop him.

Sasuke's eyebrow rose as he looked at Naruto. "Not very smart for someone Orochimaru would class as a B rank ninja, though. Still, when the Hokage brought me along to fight you, I was worried it would be too easy. From the looks of it, though, you might be an interesting opponent to test my skills against."

Naruto growled, though mostly at himself, for not realizing he had been fooled sooner. No one who wanted to be a ninja should ever believe that some random stranger just wanted to sit down and talk to them for no reason, but he had been so excited to see a friendly face he hadn't thought of that. Still, he did seem to have a good cover, and Naruto instantly began to look around for Sasuke's father once he thought of the man.

The konoha ninja watched him look around, "Lose something, dobe?" Naruto turned his attention back onto Sasuke. "Where's your father?" Surprisingly, Sasuke started to laugh, though it was almost too cold to really be called that.

"Dead. Killed by the clan's traitor." He spat out, and with a quick handseal made a bunshin in the disguise of the man he had seen Sasuke with previously. This time though he noticed a detail about the man he hadn't before, the blood red eyes. All of a sudden the symbol on Sasuke's shirt made more sense, and with a growing dread Naruto realized what clan the other boy belonged to.

"You're an Uchiha, aren't you?" Naruto asked, and Sasuke smirked. "It seems you can think after all. Even though I'm the only living Uchiha who can use the sharingan, I'm sure you've heard of us."

Naruto's expression went from angry to a predatory grin fast enough that the other boy flinched despite himself. Hearing that he was the last Uchiha they would have to face was good news. "Well, it seems that Konoha is about to lose the sharingan, then."

X X X

**A/N**

Hopefully that chapter served to answer any questions you had from last chapter. I was purposefully vague on many points involving Sasuke. I don't really care for the character, but given that I am following the original story loosely, one might consider him important. :p

I have a question for everyone out there, though. I admitted to the fact that I don't follow the anime at all, and only occasionally read the manga, so I am unsure on one point. Other than Suna, is there another major village (I know that in the anime there were supposedly some minor villages) that has a good reputation and is known for trying to be as kind and helpful as Konoha? It is actually important for the story in a few arcs, but I need to decide on a village, so I leave it up to everyone here.

Finally, the next chapter should not take long. I already have the rough draft pretty much finished. Not that anyone cares, but I normally write four to five pages for the rough draft, and that is lengthened into ten after I actually add detail and other elements. This one is already close to eight pages. So it may take some time to rewrite it. And then of course the beta has to get through it if he has time, so it might be a few days. But at least you know it's right around the corner. As compensation, I'll say it has Naruto/Sasuke action, and some Naru/Hina fluff. So I look forward to getting that to everyone.

Stay safe until next time.


	22. Friends in Peace, Enemies at War

Sorry for the wait folks. I had finished this chapter last weekend, but I was a horrible task master and asked the beta to look at it while he was on vacation it seems, so it took some time to get it back. Make sure to thank him for taking time out of his schedule to work on this.

Lots of action, and some fluff, so for all of you who like these things, I hope you enjoy the chapter.

All rights to the same people I give them to each time I post a chapter.

Rekindle: Friends in Peace, Enemies at War

Naruto rolled his eyes as Sasuke waved an arm at the clone to dispel it. Evidentially the other boy, for all his stoic habits, had a horrible flare for theatrics when he thought he was superior to someone. If it had been Naruto, he would have at least used the clone to hide something, but that was the prankster in him talking.

Reaching into his pouch before Sasuke had fully turned to face him again, Naruto pulled out a kunai and threw it at Sasuke, signaling he was ready to start the fight. The other boy didn't make any effort to move, and though Naruto had expected the attack to miss, he hadn't been anticipating that Sasuke would grab the kunai in one lightning fast motion and send it right back at Naruto. Naruto cursed, not expecting Sasuke to be able to do that little trick. Leaning to the side as quickly as possible, he just avoided being hit and watched the kunai embed itself in the ground behind him. Standing up straight, Naruto shifted one foot back, getting into a fighting stance, preparing himself for Sasuke, who had just decided to try and charge at him. The Uchiha wasn't anywhere near as fast as his dad, even if he was faster than Naruto, and so far the only thing that seemed to be a problem was that he had a really good reaction time.

Sasuke came at him and lifted his leg to hit him with a round house kick at the last second. Bringing up his knee to check the kick before Sasuke could get any power behind it, Naruto punched Sasuke in the stomach when he let his hands down momentarily. Using the short respite he had earned as the other boy tried to catch his breath, Naruto brought his hands down from his face to form the seal for shadow clones. He created just enough of them to form a ring around himself, each clone watching Sasuke warily. Naruto knew he was pretty fast, but it was obvious Sasuke was faster, so he would just surprise the boy by attacking when Sasuke was committed to his technique.

Sasuke frowned at the appearance of his clones, probably unsure about what type he had made while he was distracted. Obviously, he figured them to not be a threat, because he started to run towards Naruto and his clones, swaying to avoid the punch from one clone on his way. Jumping up suddenly, Sasuke placed a hand on the ground and began to use a big windmill kick, taking out two clones who hadn't been fast enough to move, in order to get at Naruto.

Instead of trying to avoid the powerful kicks, Naruto decided to do the opposite, and activating his blood line prematurely, stepped into the attack, bringing up a forearm and stopped the kick at the height of its momentum. He felt the bone crack through his blood line, as well as the massive bruising, but trusted in his chakra to repair the damage, instead bringing up his leg to thrust kick Sasuke in the chest while he was still on one hand. The raven haired boy managed to get himself into a crouching position as he slid into a stop, one hand holding his chest where he had been kicked. Naruto watched him warily, giving his arm the needed couple seconds to heal. Despite his looks and rather light build, Sasuke could hit damned hard.

Both boys took the moment to examine each other, and then they grinned, obviously finding something about the exchange enjoyable. Sasuke's grin turned into a smirk as he stood up, getting into a fighting stance as well. "I guess you really aren't half bad, dobe." Naruto scratched his head as he grinned, "Hehe. Same to you bastard." With that, they showed each other what little respect they could, and without anything to signal it, both jumped at each other at the same time, starting the fight again.

Naruto ducked underneath a high crescent kick, feeling the air pass through his hair at the force of it passing. Before Naruto could retaliate, Sasuke continued his spin, bringing the other foot up in a crescent kick that changed into an axe kick, catching Naruto in the back of his head and knocking him to the ground. Naruto groaned, seeing stars appear in his vision from the blow. Turning over, Naruto looked up just in time to see another attack coming down at him, and he pushed himself off his hands and knees into an improvised roll to avoid being hit. Pulling out a kunai, he copied the example of the ninja he had fought while coming to Grass, and launched a kunai at Sasuke to buy himself time to stand up. He did change one thing though, building off the blind spot it momentarily created in Sasuke's guard.

While he still had the chance, Naruto created a handful of clones already using a henge to change themselves into normal looking rocks or grass, before having them blend in with their surroundings. Luckily for Naruto, it seemed like Sasuke either hadn't noticed the technique, or had deciding to ignore it, judging by the way he kept his eyes only on Naruto.

Grinning at Sasuke suddenly, Naruto jumped high into the air and adding a bit of spin, managed to turn himself around so that his jump had him arcing over his opponents head. Not worrying about whether he hit him or not, Naruto began to throw kunai and shuriken at Sasuke as quickly as possible, forcing him to retreat towards where Naruto had jumped from. Seeing he hadn't pushed him far enough back yet, Naruto continued to press his advantage.

Taking off at a run towards Sasuke, he made sure to jump into a flying side kick far too early, giving the other boy more than enough time to prepare to take advantage of Naruto being open. It seemed he fell for it, because Sasuke started to smirk, planning some sort of counter to his technique. Once he knew he had the boy expecting him to continue with the kick, Naruto formed a clone, and pushing off its back in mid air, let it continue to Naruto's previous kick while he dropped to the ground. The extra momentum didn't seem to bother Sasuke, because he quickly grabbed the clone's ankle and began to swing it at the real Naruto, but he didn't have time to press his advantage. Naruto was in too close to hit, and brought up a fist loaded with chakra before punching Sasuke dead in the face, breaking his nose. The attack made Sasuke stumble back towards the hidden clones until he was standing right in the middle of them.

The clones jumped up from their hiding spots, and to Sasuke's surprise grabbed on to him tightly, each one adding more to holding him until there was no way he could hope to escape. Sasuke's frown from being hit turned into a downright scowl when he realized he had been tricked.

Naruto watched his prisoner for a moment, trying to slow his heart after the surge of adrenaline their little spar had caused. He wasn't sure what to say to Sasuke now that he had him in a position to make him listen. He probably was already marked by Orochimaru, because he would give up ramen for life if Sasuke was considered too weak to have been considered for have the curse seal placed on him. Yet unlike the three genin he had fought in wave country, he seemed more eager, more willing to do what he was told, and he seriously doubted it was just to avoid the pain or punishment for trying to disobey orders. "Why are you doing this?" Naruto started, causing Sasuke to give him a withering look that screamed of how stupid he thought the question was. Still, he was at Naruto's mercy for the moment, and Naruto just kept staring at him, expecting an answer.

"Don't tell me you're really that dumb, dobe. I was ordered to kill you, as I said earlier." Sasuke spat out, and Naruto ignore the obvious contempt in his tone. Rolling his eyes at the raven haired boy, he shook his head. "Okay Sasuke. I'm dumb, first to admit that, but even I realize you were ordered to kill me. What I want to know is why you WANT to do it. You know, I met some other genin from Konoha not too long ago, and they were way nicer than your sorry ass. They weren't out for my blood because they enjoyed the thought of it, either."

Sasuke forgot to glare, and blinked a few times, looking genuinely surprised for a moment, then slowly understanding seemed to pass across his face. "So, that's where those losers ended up..." he whispered, no doubt more to himself than to Naruto. Judging by the tone, it seemed Sasuke didn't really care for Tenten and her group, but it was still some common ground at least.

Naruto grinned, glad to have some way to get Sasuke to listen to what he was about to say. "Yeah, and we helped them too. They didn't believe us at first, either, but we can fix that whole curse seal thing you know. Then you wouldn't have to listen to what Orochimaru told you to do. Pretty cool, huh?" Naruto felt proud of himself. Compared to when he fought Kiba, he now did actually have a way to help those affected by the curse seal. Knowing about the seal his dad had designed, it seemed like he could actually make a promise he could come through on when he said he would help them.

Sasuke's head jerked up, and he gave Naruto a hard calculating look, but otherwise didn't give away what he was thinking. "That's impossible. You can't remove it short of death."

Feeling himself get excited by the interest Sasuke was showing in the topic, Naruto started to bounce lightly up and down on the balls of his feet. "Nah, we can't really remove it, and we won't kill anyone. But we can seal it for you. My dad and the old man, his name's Jiraiya by the way, are amazing with seals and can do pretty much anything with them, when they put their minds to it. So if you can just ignore your orders for a little while longer, we can help you be free of that stupid seal as well. Come on Sasuke, you know it's better than working for that snake bastard."

Naruto nearly missed the change, but Sasuke wasn't even trying to hide the fact that his eyes had turned red. Naruto wasn't sure what he hoped to accomplish activating his sharingan when already pinned down, but judging by the way his body was shaking with suppressed anger, Naruto knew his clones wouldn't be able to survive whatever it was he was about to do.

Sasuke seemed to realize this too, and brought his head back, and bashed it into the face of the clone directly behind him, causing it to disappear and freeing an arm. In the next second he had managed to destroy the other three as well, and looked up to glare at Naruto again. Realizing his mistake, he signaled for his final clone to attack while he put distance between him and Sasuke. His parents had always stressed the important of keeping a clone or two ready and hidden, should restraining techniques failed, and now he understood why.

Naruto watched as Sasuke began to mold his chakra at a rate that he had no hope of following. The clone had only made it a few feet in his direction, but Sasuke spun around and the clone was engulfed in flames.

The other boy turned to glare at Naruto again, though Naruto couldn't help but wonder what he had done to make the boy react so violently. "Sasuke...what's wrong...?" Sasuke's nostrils flared as his chakra spiked, and Naruto felt no small amount of killer intent thrown at him. "You dare offer to save us now? It's too late for your damned help, Naruto."

Naruto barely had time to get out of the way as another fireball came at him. Before he knew it, Naruto had been forced to go on the defensive, still unsure what he had done to anger Sasuke like this, but it made him sad to see him react like this just from the idea of being free.

X X X

Sasuke watched as the blond blended in with a group of clones, and Sasuke had to appreciate the boy's ability with the jutsu. Even with his sharingan, the boy was so quick with creating shadow clones, it had taken him awhile before he could copy the way he molded his chakra. Yet when he tried to use it himself, it had been a poor comparison to Naruto's superior numbers and speed with which he could perform the jutsu. He wasn't used to having an opponent who could use a jutsu better than he could, but he was ready to admit that perhaps Naruto was actually not as half as dumb as he seemed, and could have a few things he could perform well. Still, he showed off his idiocy at times when he did things like this, as he should have realized such a simple trick would not be able to hide him from the sharingan. He had been able to easily track his movements through the few dozen clones, never losing sight of which one was real.

He started his attack by molding chakra to form another fire jutsu to use on the large number of clones. Not only was it his favorite element, and came most naturally to him, but it had enough firepower to destroy a large number of those damned annoying clones at once.

Feeling the chakra build up to the right level, he began to push it out of his mouth, sending a large pillar of flame at the group in front of him. Swinging his head side to side, he made sure he hit all the clones with the fire before releasing the technique. Feeling sure he must have gotten him with that technique, Sasuke let his guard down for a moment, taking the chance to breathe and calm down.

He didn't have time to react though when he noticed something was wrong the fire in front of him. A single portion was receding far too quickly, as if the fire in just that portion was dying for some reason. A moment later Naruto jumped out from where the fire was the weakest, holding two glowing blades along his forearms. Dust and grass was picking up around him, and Sasuke noticed the telltale signs of wind chakra being used, which would explain how he had managed to draw the fire away from himself. Naruto came at him quickly enough that Sasuke found himself too flat footed to completely avoid Naruto's attack. His weapon cut into the bicep of his left arm, leaving behind a clean shallow cut that bleed freely until it began to run off of his fingers.

Sasuke stumbled back, giving himself room between him and those damned blades, holding his right hand to the cut, trying to make it stop hurting. That damned wind chakra made it hurt worse than he was used to, and he was annoyed he had let himself be caught off guard. Just as he was about to try another jutsu, Naruto was in his face again, pressing his advantage with those knives of his and keeping Sasuke from taking the needed few seconds to form any seals, even those needed for a simple kawarimi.

Despite being only average at taijutsu, it seemed that the dobe was either a natural knife fighter, or more likely had spent a long time figuring out how to fight with them, because he was good even in Sasuke's opinion. The fighting style seemed to lend itself to his personality perfectly. So far Naruto's fighting style had been erratic and unpredictable, relying on tricks and fast thinking to defend himself or launch an attack. Here he was in his element. The knives never seemed to follow any logical pattern, and whenever he expected the boy to attack, he would pull back, and then press the offense again when he least expected it. Even with his sharingan activated, he was just too slow to try and keep up with the blades, and it was taking his all to avoid being cut up into little pieces by those things. Despite his best efforts though, he was slowing getting hit more and more, and he knew he had to change how they were fighting or he stood a chance of losing to this idiot.

Turning his body to the side, he narrowly avoided being stabbed by a thrust of a tanto, and grabbed Naruto's wrist, executing a perfect wrist lock and holding the boy still. Sasuke brought his other hand up to strike, but Naruto did the most asinine thing he had ever seen. He just stepped in towards Sasuke, and pulled back his head to deliver a head butt, even as his wrist made a large popping sound from being dislocated.

Sasuke stumbled back; both from the shock of being hit and the fact that Naruto had been dumb enough to do that. There was no way he could use any jutsu now if his wrist really had been dislocated or broken. Still, he wouldn't look down at the advantage the idiot had given him.

"And here I thought you would be more of a challenge than this, Naruto. Now you can't even use any jutsu or attack with that wrist of yours." Naruto shrugged at Sasuke's words, seeming like he truly didn't care about the injury. "I don't really want to fight you, Sasuke. I already had to fight some of your friends, and we helped them. Why won't you let us help you too? You can be free like them."

Sasuke felt his anger begin to build again. He wanted to offer him freedom, when most of his clan had already died because of that damned fool Orochimaru's ambitions. It was too late for that. Who did he think he was to try and tout about being free or not? "Free? The same as those losers you _rescued_? Unlike them, I can never be free you fool. Orochimaru will always be after me, always. At least if I stay with him he will let me have my revenge by giving me more power!" Sasuke was yelling by the end, and he had to stop himself, panting for breath as he tried to calm himself.

Naruto looked genuinely shocked, and Sasuke felt himself getting more annoyed with the boy for the pity that was also present on his face. "You can't really believe he would give you any sort of power you'd want. He just brainwashes you to do whatever the hell it is he wants. Whatever happened couldn't have been so bad it's worth your freedom."

Sasuke was seeing red. "What would you know?! My brother killed my father and half the clan. I'm the only one left who can even use the Sharingan, after your family killed the only other one we had, that is! What would you understand about living your life knowing you had to kill someone as strong as that?!" Sasuke panted, trying to keep his temper down, but it was hard, and he felt the curse seal pressing in on senses, trying to take him over.

Ever since Itachi had killed off most of the clan to protect its secrets from Orochimaru, it had fallen on Sasuke to seek revenge for the lives he claimed in one bloody night. He didn't care about whether Orochimaru was able to take their secrets, or even implant the sharingan into himself, he couldn't forgive Itachi for what he had done.

His mother had tried talking him out of it time and time again, but it was one thing that he refused to, no, he could not, live without. She had kept him sane through the entire ordeal, but no matter how she tried to protect Itachi from his own actions, he would make Itachi pay for taking his father away from him.

Naruto's eyes hardened, "I wouldn't, huh? Fat lot you know, know it all. You're not special, Sasuke. So shut the fuck up and get it through your head that I only want to help you, and you don't need that idiot Orochimaru to get back at your brother. Hell, I'll help you with it, if you want, so stop pretending you're the only one with a hard life."

Sasuke lost what control he had over his temper. The blond just wouldn't stop running his mouth about things he had no right to be talking about. Running in towards the blond, he was disappointed Naruto didn't look worried as Sasuke's hay maker came in on the side of the wrist he had injured. He would be slower defending that side of his body, so he aimed the punch towards his head, intent on making sure he stopped the blond from bothering him anymore. He wouldn't let him get away with talking like he knew everything about hardship.

Naruto brought up his injured arm, and to Sasuke's surprise began to channel wind chakra into his palm before he slammed it into Sasuke's face, sending him flying back a few dozen feet, where he slid to a stop. Sasuke coughed, and some drops of blood stained the grass around him.

It was lucky for Sasuke that Naruto still seemed to be unfamiliar with elemental jutsu, otherwise that could have spelled the end for him, which only made Sasuke's shame grow. To think he had been fooled by the other boy, yet he had been sure that he had injured that wrist, and he couldn't think of how he had managed to use it to attack with.

Naruto stood over him, flexing his wrist, showing off that it obviously was perfectly fine. "Again, you have no idea what you're talking about. I have to face that freak of a Hokage of yours someday if my parents can't do it, so don't act like you have it so bad. In fact, I've already faced him once, and you're nowhere near as dangerous as he was."

Sasuke glared, but he had to admit the boy was right. Maybe he did understand where he was coming from, just a bit. Nodding only slightly to show he understood, Sasuke got up and got into a fighting stance, causing Naruto to glare a bit more. If he thought that showing his understanding meant he would yield, than he was wrong. While he would admit that the blond did understand his trouble, he still would do this his way, and right now Naruto stood in the way of finding and killing Itachi.

Sasuke forced more chakra into his eyes, bringing out the next level of his sharingan, watching as Naruto suddenly slowed down. Smirking once to show Naruto he wasn't afraid of him, he attacked.

X X X

Naruto wasn't overly fond of being used as someone's personal punching bag. He supposed it was in his favor that even without his bloodline he was able to take more abuse than most people his age. That had acted in his favor a few times this fight, because Sasuke had begun to score more hits on him, each with increasing ferocity and strength. He had already had to resort to using his blood line to heal the internal damage a few times, not wanting to be incapacitated by some sort of pain. For now he would let his burns and cuts remain, since he had been warned to never let an enemy have an easy time of discovering his ability to heal injuries.

He was forced to side step another thrust kick, and didn't have time to retaliate as Sasuke began to force him back with a series of punches. He knew he was being set up for some larger attack, yet he couldn't find a way to try and take control of the fight again. The bastard seemed to be able to read every move Naruto was about to make with those eyes of his, and it was making it hard on Naruto. He was only surviving by making everything up on the spot, throwing out any technique he had been formally taught. Instead he just did what came naturally, and it seemed to be keeping him alive at this point.

Deciding to push his luck with being unpredictable, Naruto got ready to add more chakra into his tanto. Naruto waited until Sasuke was about to punch him again and he changed his grip on the tanto so he was holding it in a more offensive grip. Bringing the blade up, he forced Sasuke to pull back his punch to avoid being cut, the raven haired boy's other hand coming up to attack instead. Naruto's other hand came up with its blade as well, forcing Sasuke to retreat just enough to avoid being cut. Naruto saw Sasuke smirk as he started to shift his weight to kick him, but then Naruto forced the waiting chakra into his blades.

Sasuke managed to avoid being hit, but from there was unable to take the offensive back. Naruto kept attacking with his knives, changing the chakra so they would grow and shrink at random intervals, making sure Sasuke wouldn't be able to know when it was safe to get close. However fast Sasuke's eyes made him, he didn't seem able to keep up with the sudden changes in length. After Naruto scored a relatively deep cut on his thigh, Sasuke seemed to catch on that there was little he could do about winning the fight at close range anymore and jumped far enough back he was out of Naruto's range completely.

Naruto hid his sigh of relief when Sasuke changed strategies. His parents had stressed how strong the sharingan was when it came to close range combat, and though Naruto hadn't done too poorly fighting him; Sasuke had definitely proved that it was best to keep his distance. Naruto was best at close range combat, though, which made him annoyed. He had to admit Sasuke was a natural at hand to hand combat, and with those bloody eyes of his, it was near impossible to keep up with him.

Unlike Naruto, though, Sasuke didn't seem to have any difficulties with fighting at a distance. Rushing through a set of hand seals, Naruto found himself forced to dodge a host of different types of fire jutsu. Not for the first time Naruto felt himself to be at a disadvantage for never having learned elemental jutsu when he was younger. His parents had tried to make sure he was well balanced in his skills, especially being able to recognize different dangerous situations and how to handle them, and had only just started to teach him jutsu that used elements. 'At least the strategy part is proving useful.' Naruto thought, knowing without it he would have been killed a long time ago.

Seeing a fireball coming straight at him, Naruto used a kawarimi to replace himself with a rock nearby. Deciding to try and stall for time, he started talking to Sasuke again. "You know, my parents could train you too Sasuke. I know you realize how powerful they are. I bet they could make you strong enough to take out that brother of yours easily."

Sasuke sneered, but stopped attacking for the moment. "Last I checked, it was your parents who ran away from Orochimaru." Naruto couldn't help but get angry at Sasuke's insinuation. "You bastard. You don't even know what Orochimaru really is, do you"

For the second time that fight, Sasuke looked honestly surprised, and Naruto blinked in confusion. "You really don't know, do you?" Sasuke looked ready to ask until his face hardened again, and Naruto wanted to beat the boy over the head. He was almost as stubborn as Naruto was.

"That doesn't matter." Sasuke said, starting to use his jutsu on Naruto again, forcing Naruto to start dodging again. Sasuke wasn't going to make it easy though, and started adding regular weapons into his attacks, making sure they came at Naruto from his blind spots. Instead of standing and fighting, Naruto decided to change tactics by using the kawarimi as much as possible. He still had more than enough chakra to outlast Sasuke, but he didn't know how long that would take, so he decided to try something with a bit more...flare.

Seeing two wires fly out to either side of him, Naruto tensed, knowing he was being pinned in for something big. Looking away from the wires, he saw Sasuke release two balls of fire. The first arched over Naruto before coming down to rush him from behind, whereas the second came at him from his front. Knowing he wouldn't have time to kawarimi even if he wanted to, Naruto went in one of the only two directions Sasuke had left open to him, down. He knew the fireballs would expand when they got to him, and he would be burned if he stayed on the ground, but he waited until the last minute to see the fireballs merge and expand out to hit him. With the little bit of time he had gained, he used a kawarimi on a pile of rocks he had purposefully build using previous replacements. Judging by the fact he hadn't caught onto the fact that the rocks were piling up, he knew he had tricked Sasuke. On each stone was an explosion note, and though it had depleted him of all but one or two notes, it was well worth it to see it explode from a safe distance and expand out to hit Sasuke.

The genin flew until he hit a boulder, a large snap coming from his shoulder as it presumably broke on contact with the rock. He was also covered in burns and seemed to be disoriented, but starting to make it to his feet. Naruto ran over before he could make it all the way to his feet, and putting his entire body behind it, punched the boy in the jaw, flooring him again. "That" he began between pants, "was for being such a huge idiot."

Naruto stumbled back, falling onto his butt as his exhaustion took over him. He felt like he had just suffered through a couple dozen of Kiba's gatsuuga's, but at least he had won the fight. Sasuke was just lying there on the ground, blood dripping down his chin and various cuts as he held his shoulder. For a moment Naruto was about to ask how he was, because despite himself he couldn't help but like the other boy. He seemed to be a really good ninja, and was pretty funny in his own dry way last time they talked.

He stopped though when he felt a subtle change in the air around him as Sasuke started to release more chakra. Standing back up as quickly as possible, Naruto tightened his grip on his tanto and started to walk over to Sasuke to examine what was going on, and end it if he could. The feeling was similar to when Kiba and the others had used that curse seal of theirs, only far more powerful. That thought helped Naruto recognize what was going on, and jumped back just in time as Sasuke released a large amount of cursed chakra. Naruto turned away, not wanting to look directly at the bright purple and red light given off by so much chakra.

When the brightness wore off, Naruto fought not to vomit at the feeling the chakra gave him. Kiba and the others had all gotten really powerful when they started using the curse seal as well as the youki, but none of them could compare to Sasuke. The boy was almost oozing chakra out of every pore, and Naruto felt ill having to be around so much of that tainted energy.

It also didn't help that Sasuke had physically changed the most drastically. He now was covered in blood red leathery skin, and two grotesque hands stuck out of his back, each more than 5 feet long.

Naruto swallowed deeply, trying to calm himself. The new look scared the shit out of him, and all it could mean for Naruto was that Sasuke was finally getting serious.

X X X

Hinata drank down the rest of her medicine and gave Temari a weak smile to thank her as she helped her get more comfortable. Temari returned it, though it didn't seem to reach her eyes, and Hinata thought he could catch her switching back to a worried frown as Hinata closed her eyes. She was too tired and weak to try and open them to figure out what she had really seen, and it hurt to think she was the cause for the scared look Temari had.

She knew that the medicine Tsunade had given her would soon make her fall back into a deep sleep in order to conserve her energy. Whatever the medicine was, it had an incredible soporific effect, and it was already making it hard to think straight. Still, the chilling memory of being told what had happened the first time she woke up was crystal clear in her mind.

Naruto and the others were in danger because she had let herself get injured. Hinata's face must have shown the guilt she harbored over that when they first told her, for they had tried to assuage her worries, but to no avail. Once she had learned of where they had gone, she just couldn't shake the thought that something was going to go terribly wrong. Once reinforcements had arrived from Suna, Temari had remained close by, and had been a source of comfort. She was unusually patient through the entire thing, and had helped Hinata the few times the searing pain of the poison had racked Hinata's body.

Despite her help though, Hinata couldn't help but think that maybe the older girl was disappointed with her. Not only had she been weak enough to be injured so gravely, but because she had not finished letting Naruto know how she felt. She had promised Temari to not hesitate when it came to Naruto, but she couldn't help that she hadn't been able to live up to her expectations.

That brought on more memories for Hinata, and despite getting increasingly tired, she could remember everything about that promise in vivid detail too. It had become a focal point for her for years now, and helped her change herself for the better. Shikamaru and Hinata had just turned ten years old, and in order to celebrate, they had decided to stay in Suna for a extended period of time in order to get some to enjoy themselves.

They had originally planned to only spend two weeks in Suna, so when Minato had said he was taking Naruto with him on a short training excursion the weekend before they left, they had planned for them to return Sunday afternoon in time to leave on Monday. He had taken them all out for at least a day to train while they were in Suna, so they hadn't thought much about it at the time, and Hinata especially was glad Naruto was able to spend some time with his dad.

When they hadn't arrived on Sunday, though, Hinata had started to get worried, as well as everyone else, and they had stationed themselves at the entrance to the Kaze kage's tower since early Monday morning. They didn't have to wait long until Minato led in Naruto, who was wearing bandages that had some dried blood cached on them. Keeping a hold onto Naruto's shoulder, Hinata watched as Minato led him over to where Kushina and Tsunade were waiting.

Hinata strained herself to try and hear what they were saying, but couldn't make out any of the heated exchange. Tsunade eventually took Naruto and led him off deeper into the tower to tend to his wounds, and Minato came to where Hinata and Shikamaru were standing. He knelt in front of them, and gave him one of his trademark grins to try and calm them down. It didn't help calm down Hinata, and it must have shown, because Minato placed a hand on her shoulder, giving her another smile just for her. "It's alright, Hinata-chan. A group of bandits thought to try and ambush us. Naruto just got a bit too excited and tried to fight a few of them by himself while I took care of the rest. It's nothing too serious."

He placed a hand on Hinata's head and ruffled her hair before getting up and heading over to speak with an angry looking Kushina. Shikamaru turned to face her, and despite the fact she knew she was keeping her face neutral, he seemed to understand she wasn't feeling any better. He scratched his head, looking uncomfortable before putting an arm across her shoulders in a hug of sorts. "Don't worry. That dummy is too stubborn to get seriously injured, so don't worry, okay?" Hinata nodded, and gave him a smile that seemed to placate him, because he nodded and left the room.

Hinata let the smile drop, and stood there staring at the doorway Tsunade had taken Naruto through. She wrung her hands as she thought about how she hated knowing he had been hurt. She wanted to go see how he was, but she wasn't sure if he would want her to bother him, leaving her unsure what to do.

She was so absorbed in her indecision that she didn't notice that someone had come up behind her. It was only when they had placed a hand on her shoulder that Hinata jumped in surprise, turning around quickly to see Temari standing there.

"Something wrong Hinata? Or are you just blocking everyone's way for the hell of it?" Temari said, smirking slightly at her own humor. Hinata tried to stammer out an apology, but Temari just waved her hand, stopping Hinata's attempts. "I saw them dragging that idiot back here, how'd he get himself hurt this time? Probably tripped over his own feet or something stupid like that."

Hinata frowned at Temari as she kept making jokes about Naruto. She wanted to tell the girl to stop being so mean to him, but she didn't want to be rude. After all, Naruto had helped her brother, so why was it so hard for her to be a little nicer to Naruto. The other girl seemed to get the message and stopped her jokes, but she still seemed amused? "All right, All right. I'll lay off. Still, what happened?"

Hinata set aside her annoyance with the older girl and began to wring her hands again as she was forced to relate what she had been told by Minato. Temari sighed, "That sucks. Some of the bandits here in Wind country are pretty tough, too." Hinata felt the blood drain from her face at the thought, and Temari raised an eyebrow at her before continuing. "Yeah, quite dangerous. Most try and learn a bit from Suna and can use some chakra. Never know what to expect." Temari said slowly, never taking her eyes off Hinata.

Hinata felt her throat tighten, and she was having a hard time taking deep breaths as he heart began to race at the thoughts that she was having. She didn't realize that Naruto and Minato were going out into such a dangerous place alone, and she almost felt guilty for letting them do so. The thought that Naruto could have ended up more injured than he was, or worse, left her close to tears. Hinata bowed suddenly to Temari, intent on finding a place where she could get some fresh air. "Pardon me, Temari-san. I should go."

As she turned to leave, Temari grabbed onto her shoulder again, this time dragging Hinata with her as she led them into the seclusion of one of the outside gardens. Letting Hinata go, she just stood there, hands on her hips and stared at Hinata long enough that Hinata finally had to look up from the ground to lock eyes with the blond girl.

Temari opened her mouth a few times as she tried to find the right words, and finally just put her hands on her hips and said "You really like him, don't you?" Temari had switched from her normally brash way of speaking to a much softer tone, even as she gave Hinata a piecing look that made her want to fidget. Hinata looked down, not able to keep eye contact under such scrutiny. "I-I'm not sure what you're talking about, Temari-san." she whispered, and Temari snorted. "Like hell you don't. You like him and you're getting all bent out of shape worrying about him getting hurt, am I right?"

Hinata templed her fingers together, and used them as a way to distract herself from where the conversation was headed. "Of course I don't want to see Naruto-kun hurt. B-But it's not what you're thinking..." Temari grabbed Hinata's chin and made Hinata look at her. "Get over yourself, girl. I don't like being lied to."

Hinata bit her lip, not sure how to respond to Temari that wouldn't make her angrier. She knew she cared for Naruto deeply, but did she like him in the way Temari meant? She had never given the feeling a name before, but maybe that really was how she felt. There was something about the boy that gave her an odd feeling in her stomach, and she was always wondering if he was thinking of her too, and if so what. The feeling didn't even compare to her relationship with Shikamaru. He was a great friend, and loved to train and play with him when they had the time, but that was all there was between them. He was like a brother to her, whereas Naruto was something else entirely. Naruto had always made her feel this way, and she had never before now been able to figure out why.

"Maybe..." she began, and Temari raised an eyebrow, obviously expecting more. Hinata swallowed deeply, "Maybe I do like him. But...I'm not sure what to do about it..." Temari rolled her eyes. "You're ten years old, not like you should go and kiss the boy or something. Still you are a ninja, and he could die any time, which means you can't waste what time you have with him. So are you just going to let yourself play the wall flower forever and never let him see more of you than the shy girl who blushes when he talks to her?"

Hinata shook her head slowly at first, not wanting those things to happen. Compared to the fear of being herself and having Naruto not like her, the thought that he could die before he knew how she felt was much worse. She knew what Temari was asking her, and she would try her best to be more open around Naruto, as well as everyone else. Shaking her head again, Hinata made herself stand up straighter, and forced her hands down to her sides.

Temari smirked, though it seemed to be in good humor by the way she patted Hinata on the shoulder. "Good. I knew you were smarter than that. Take my advice, try to just be yourself. Now, let's stop talking about all this mushy stuff. I'm no good at giving advice, but you're a friend, so I didn't want to see you do something you'll wind up regretting." Hinata looked up in shock at the admission of their friendship, but Temari was looking away, obviously embarrassed judging by the slight blush on her tanned skin. Hinata gave her a large smile, "Thank you, Temari-san." Temari waved the comment off, and Hinata thought of something as Temari began to turn around.

"Umm, Temari-san, can I ask you a question...?" Temari turned around and raised an eyebrow at Hinata's way of speaking. "That whole not being shy thing starts here too, brat. But go ahead." Hinata nodded, continuing with a bit more confidence. "Well, you seem to always want to help Shikamaru in his training, and given what you just said I was wondering if your advice was from experience?"

Temari was now blushing furiously. "Right, come on; let's go check on that blond idiot of yours." Hinata smiled, hiding it behind her hand as she followed the other girl to go check on Naruto.

Hinata smiled a bit as the memory began to give over to sleep. At this point she was too tired to think of much else, but one thing did stand out in her mind. 'Please, come home to us Naruto. I still have a lot to show you...' was her last thought before she fell into a troubled sleep.

X X X

Naruto was getting desperate. The fight had become really one sided after Sasuke had gone all demon on him, and he was showing just what that damned Orochimaru's chakra and youki could do. Not only had Sasuke become even faster, to the point it was sometimes hard to follow his movements with the eyes alone, but he had become stronger as well.

Half rolling and half collapsing to the side, Naruto managed to avoid being hit by a punch from Sasuke, the hit causing a small crater a few feet in diameter to appear in the soft soil. 'Much stronger', Naruto corrected himself. With his sharingan active on top of everything else, he was hitting more often than not, and Naruto was pushing as much chakra into healing his wounds as possible. He had enough left to continue healing himself for awhile, but at the rate he was taking damage, that wouldn't do him much good.

Resorting to dive-rolling to avoid another attack from Sasuke, Naruto got shakily back to his feet, looking up at where Sasuke was hovering in the air, smirking. Those new appendages were keeping him too far out of range for Naruto to even hope to launch an effective counter attack and Sasuke knew that.

His opponent got ready to come down to try and strike him again, and Naruto shifted his weight back to brace himself, hiding how his hand slipped into his pouch to pull out his last explosive tag, which was attached to a kunai. Naruto watched as Sasuke began to plummet towards him, building up speed to hit him before he had a chance to dodge again.

Instead of moving, the boy just waited until the right moment, and released his kunai, making sure to time it so that the moment it passed over Sasuke's shoulder it went off. The explosion sent Sasuke spiraling out of control, and, not wanting to lose his advantage, Naruto grabbed his tanto from his belt and pumped chakra into it. Bringing it down in a slicing motion and making sure to step out of Sasuke's way, Naruto tried to score a cut on Sasuke's uninjured shoulder. The raven haired boy surprised him though, and quickly turning to land on the ground in front of Naruto, grabbed onto his wrist, stopping the attack.

Feeling him start to squeeze, Naruto realized where this was heading, and brought his other tanto up to score a hit along the forearm of the arm that was holding him. He was too late though, as he felt the wrist shatter under Sasuke's grip, and Naruto tried to keep the pain from showing. Hopefully Sasuke still hadn't figured out why he was able to keep going through all these injuries, and he wanted to keep it that way by making him think he hadn't succeeded in breaking it.

'Damn it.' Naruto thought as he fought the urge to grab his aching wrist while it healed. 'I really wish my bloodline would at least have the sense to numb the pain before healing it.' Shaking his head just a small amount to try and push the thought out of his mind, he focused more on Sasuke, who was standing there watching the blood flow down his arm from where he had been cut. He looked incredulous, and Naruto got the feeling he hadn't really expected to be hurt while in this form. Sasuke looked halfway rational for the first time since he had transformed. He was so engrossed in it; Naruto figured he would try the only thing he had left that might help him survive this.

Naruto reached into his pouch again to pull out his most precious kunai. Etched into its handle was the seal for the hiraishin jutsu, and it was the special design his father used for many of his kunai. It was a gamble whether what he had in mind would work, but the way he saw it, he was desperate, and he was wanted to end this fight quickly. It had already been close to half an hour, and unlike a spar, he had so much adrenaline coursing through him that now that his body was having time to come down from the initial high, he was tiring fast.

In order to end things, he would bet everything on how his parents told him he seemed to learn things best when his back was against the wall. He had no way of matching Sasuke's speed directly, so he would have to copy his dad, and avoid 'moving' at all. He knew he was built for power at this point, and while maybe someday he would grow up to be like his dad and get faster, he doubted that right now even Minato would have an advantage in terms of pure speed compared to Sasuke.

It seemed like every curse seal gave the individual some different power or ability, all of which spelled trouble for someone fighting them. It made Naruto scared to think about what it was Orochimaru was capable of doing, if he were the one who was the origin of these odd mutations and insane amount of energy.

Shaking his head, he pushed that thought from his mind, focusing on what it gave Sasuke for now. Sasuke seemed to have benefited most in terms speed and strength, as well as those wings, which combined posed the problem of trying to defend against an airborn enemy while finding his own way to attack back.

Realizing he didn't have time to waste before Sasuke would snap himself out of his stupor, Naruto jumped high into the air, far higher than was safe even, in order to get as much spread as possible with what he was about to do. Naruto cocked back his arm just as Sasuke looked up and putting everything he had into it. Naruto threw the kunai while performing the kage shuriken technique, making hundred copies of the weapon appear spread throughout the field. Knowing he was extra vulnerable in the air due to Sasuke's unique form, Naruto didn't even look at the boy, since he didn't doubt he was moving to attack him. Instead he focused on using the hiraishin, spreading out his consciousness to find a seal, any seal, that would get him out of the air.

Even thought it took him a moment to actually attach his chakra to one of the beacons, there were so many of them that he had no trouble locating it quickly, which was usually the hardest part of the technique for him. He didn't need to be specific about which one he landed on either, so long as he made it to the general area he wanted. He disappeared in a flash just as Sasuke raced through where he had been, kunai poised to have stabbed him in the stomach had he not moved.

Sasuke turned in midair to stare at Naruto, shock evident on his face. The look took on a hard edge of suspicion as he began to figure out how his opponent had escaped, and he came at Naruto faster than ever. Before Sasuke could hit him though, Naruto moved himself to well behind where Sasuke was now standing, looking around trying to find Naruto. Before he could turn completely around, Naruto threw a kunai and almost hit Sasuke before he spun around and grabbed it an inch from his body. He threw it back at Naruto, and without even having to work at it this time, Naruto appeared behind him, and used a thrust kick to send Sasuke tumbling end over end away from him.

Naruto stood there panting, but with a giant smile on his face. The technique didn't use up as much chakra as he feared, but he was tired and injured enough he was glad he was able to use it effectively. And it felt good to finally be using it well enough to truly kick some ass like his dad would.

Sasuke got to his feet, and launched himself at Naruto again, who used the technique to escape again. From there the fight broke down into a game of chase where Sasuke kept trying to capture Naruto, who had taken to laughing and taunting Sasuke slightly. He was hoping to get the boy to use up some chakra while he was able to dodge quickly, but Sasuke wasn't having any of that.

Instead he started to attack the kunai themselves, guessing at least at their purpose, using smaller jutsu to try and destroy large groups of them at a time. Naruto knew that if he let Sasuke destroy enough of them, there wouldn't be much left to stand between him and the boy's anger. It would paint him into a corner that he didn't think he would be able to escape from, so he decided to up the ante and start attacking back.

Appearing in front of Sasuke, the other boy's eyes widened in surprise before his leg came up to side kick Naruto in the stomach, but he had already moved to behind Sasuke. Grabbing on to one of his wing like hands, Naruto used chakra to secure his feet before yanking hard, hoping to injure the damned thing before he lifted Sasuke up. Making sure to go about his technique fast enough Sasuke couldn't react, Naruto swung the other boy over his head, slamming him face first into the ground as hard as possible, with satisfying results he might add.

The other arm on Sasuke's back swung at him, and though it started to connect, Naruto transported away before he got too injured from it. Ignoring the pain in his ribs, Naruto moved back in, standing right before Sasuke, who was just getting up with the help of his good arm. Naruto applied chakra to his foot, and kicked Sasuke in the chin, sending him flying back, and flipping over a few times before hitting the ground hard, not moving.

Not wanting to take a chance, Naruto brought himself closer to Sasuke, taking out a kunai out of his quickly diminishing stock, and held it in a position to stab downwards. He refused to kill Sasuke, the thought was just too sad. The other boy was like this because that bastard Orochimaru had done this to him, and his brother also had done some pretty bad stuff from the sound of it. He couldn't help but feel a bit like he and Sasuke had some things in common after hearing about his life. Maybe if things had been different, they could have even been friends. Still, if he didn't step up his attacks then there was no way he was going to be able to walk out of here alive.

Bringing down the kunai, Naruto aimed to hit Sasuke in the uninjured shoulder, making sure that it wouldn't be a lethal blow. If he could incapacitate him, then he would be able to have both of them survive for now. The blade met flesh and sunk deep into his shoulder, but just as Naruto was about to pull out, he felt Sasuke's weight shift. Before he could move back, Sasuke somehow brought his other arm up despite his broken shoulder and latched onto his wrist. The effort seemed to pain him, but he gave Naruto a smirk, and Naruto started get worried. Trying to pry his hand free, he found that Sasuke was holding on with a death grip, and the boy was not going to let him go until he accomplished whatever it was he had in mind.

Bringing up his arm to try and punch Sasuke in the face to knock him out, he knew it was too late when he felt the buildup of chakra in the air around him. Turning his head away so as to not be blinded permanently, Naruto squeezed his eyes and prepared for the worst. A second later Sasuke released his chakra and youki at once, filling the air around him with a red haze that covered Naruto.

Screaming in agony, Naruto collapsed to the ground, writhing as the pain grew to a point he knew he could die from it. The youki made him feel as if the muscle and tissue was melting off his bones, and the cursed chakra seeped down into every part of his body, and tore at his sanity. He could feel the blood lust and rage it brought on, and it made him want to die to be exposed to it.

He knew he didn't have much time to try and do something if he wanted to survive, so he did the first thing that came to mind, and released as much of his chakra as he could. He pushed it out of every point he was capable of, hoping that it would protect him at least a little bit. The pain was so profound the blond was worried that it wouldn't work.

For a long moment, it seemed like it hadn't, and that Naruto really would die from overexposure to the youki and chakra, but slowly he felt the pain lessen. Pushing even more chakra out of his skin, he held on, forcing out as much as possible until he felt Sasuke begin to lessen the amount of chakra he was using, then stop.

He barely noticed that Sasuke let go of his wrist, and he realized that his face had been burned so badly he couldn't even open his eyes to try and figure out where Sasuke had gone. All he could do was hear the sound of Sasuke's wings beating as he rose into the air. A part of Naruto didn't care, only wishing for the agony to pass. His body was horribly burned, and the sheer pressure it had undergone had caused bones to break. It was enough pain that Naruto was swimming on the edge of consciousness.

Images of family and friends passed through his mind, and he felt a bit of fight return to him. He had to protect those back home. Slowly reaching down, he was glad to feel that the vials were a lot sturdier than they looked, and that they had withstood the damage he had undertaken by being hidden close to his body. He had to get these to Tsunade to heal Shikamaru and Hinata, he had to see Shikamaru beat his dad in go one of these days, and he wanted to see Hinata's smile again when they had time to be alone and talk about simple things.

Bringing his hands together, Naruto knew he didn't really have enough chakra for what he was about to do, but he dug deeper into himself, pulling out the very chakra used to keep him alive. If it worked, he wouldn't die from using it, but the energy it required would guaranteed that this would be his last attack, and he had to make it count.

Hearing Sasuke's wings stop beating on the very edge of his hearing, he guessed the boy was high in the air, and was going to use gravity to help him build up power in his attack. Knowing he had a moment to perform the technique unnoticed, he pushed everything he had into making four clones, each with enough chakra for at least one more technique. He felt them move away, and Naruto relaxed, no longer trying to make himself move, and instead let himself await his fate. Everything was riding on his clones now. They would have to use all the chakra he had put into them to use this one technique, and when they had completed it they would disappear. If they didn't get right on the first try, then Naruto was doomed.

From above him, he heard the sound of beating grow as Sasuke begun his dive, coming in fast to attack. Naruto squeezed his eyes shut, praying that the plan he had would work and that the clones timing would not be off. More images flashed through his mind, knowing that he was taking a huge gamble with his life, and he smiled as some of the nicer memories came back to him.

The moment ended quickly, and he wasn't disappointed by his clones. Just as the beating got loud enough that he was sure it was too late to stop the other boy, the clones jumped out of hiding, a rasengan in hand as they attacked Sasuke from all sides, the rasengan no doubt digging past his defense to damage Sasuke internally. He heard the other boy scream and then fall silent, and a moment later a thud as Sasuke landed somewhere nearby.

Somehow he had done it. He had beaten Sasuke, despite his curse seal, but there would be time for celebrating later. For now, it was all he could do wonder about his parents' fight before he fell unconscious.

X X X

**A/N:**

I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter. Writing this whole thing in one weekend was a bit of a tiring experience. I don't think I will do such a thing again. I do, however, have a reasonable chunk of the rough draft for the next chapter written. So for those who wish to see what happens next, be at ease, for it is being worked upon.

Now, I hate to complain, but I must ask, is there something wrong with the story? In all seriousness, I have put a good deal of time and effort into writing this, so I would like it to be something that a broad range of people feel compelled to read. However, it appears as if this is not a very popular story. I am not fishing for people to try and merely give me an ego boost, I am just seriously confused as to what I may have done wrong in the creation of the story. Is it simply the plot? Or are my elements of style such that people find it to be a story they can't even stand reading? I know I have taken the romance very slowly, but there simply is no way around it given the storyline and their relative ages. Things are currently changing with respect to romance, but it is still a point in the story that someone would have a good deal of reading to do to reach it.

As I said, I'm not hunting for sympathy, I just really want to know what it is about the story that keeps it from attracting a crowd. I have put time into this and want to make sure both the readers and I derive pleasure from it. So it's important to me to know what might need to be changed or not.

Anyways, that's enough of my so called complaints. I hope everyone stays safe. I guarantee that the next chapter will be entertaining for me and the audience alike. Which means I should shut up and get back to making sure it is as well written as possible

Stay Safe!


	23. Bravado

Sorry about the delay folks. I had a bit of writers block for this chapter at one point. In fact, it directly relates to the title of this chapter. I had a title already planned out, but when I hit my creative block, a friend suggests a song to me 'Rush – Bravado' and much of this chapter was written while listening to it. I highly suggest you check out the song, as it encapsulates many of the feelings in this chapter. In honor of the song, I changed the title to reflect this.

Also I would like to thank those of you who provided reviews for the previous chapter and discussed your views on the pros and cons of this story. It was a good chance to see what you all think of the story. Frankly, I am stuck with my personal muse yelling at me to continue writing more, so it's not as if I will disappear anytime soon even if this doesn't gain a larger fan base. I just like to know what to do to improve my work.

Personally, I am pleased that this arc is nearly over. I enjoy fight scenes, but there are a lot of things that will take place in this story soon, many of which will challenge my ability to write well. In the near future you will be seeing some various new plot elements and characters introduced. So I hope everyone bears with me a little longer.

Also, I hope everyone enjoys this chapter. I spent a good deal of time on it, and it has been one I have been planning to write since the very beginning, and as such is much longer than previous updates. I warn you, the final portion is slightly bloody, though I attempted to keep it from being overly graphic.

Let us move on to the story. Please read and enjoy.

All rights to Masashi Kishimoto.

**Rekindle: Bravado**

Minato focused on Orochimaru, trying to keep himself from missing even the smallest sign of trickery as the man stalked around their three man team in a large circle. Surely, Orochimaru must have felt confident in his ability to win judging by his actions. Whatever his reason, though, Orochimaru was displaying a level of fearlessness that seemed almost foolhardy when faced with the prospect of facing opponents of the level Minato, his wife, and his teacher, were at.

Not wanting to seem too aggressive and therefore signal the beginning of the fight too quickly, Minato slowly built up his chakra to activate the seals that covered his body. They were the result of his and Jiraiya's work to control the opening of the first gate, in hopes to better avoid injuring themselves. It was a large seal, and rather cumbersome having to be tattooed to make use of it, but the benefit outweighed the negative aspects. It had lain dormant for Minato for many years now, ever since he had used it in his last fight with Orochimaru, untapped due to the fear that it would only make the injury to his lungs worse if he were to stress them too much. He couldn't see a way around having to use it now though, especially at the beginning of the battle. The first move of a fight usually proved to be the pivotal moment that dictated the way a fight would be played out, and he didn't want Orochimaru to gain the upper hand so early on.

The snake summoner made his move when he circled into what he expected to be Minato's blind spot, no doubt hoping to land an attack where his reaction time would be the slowest. Instead of trying to move and intercept the other man, he waited for Orochimaru to draw closer to his wife, who was just beginning to draw her katana to defend herself. When Orochimaru got in range, Minato fired off a lightning-quick straight back kick, forcing the snake summoner to forgo his own attack. His opponent managed to bring up his arms to block Minato's kick, but he hadn't expected to actually land the attack to begin with. His message, though, had been sent very clearly to Orochimaru. He had just told him in no uncertain terms that he was not going to be fooled this time around.

Orochimaru rolled his shoulders, but other than that didn't show any sign that he had just been struck. Instead, he stood there smirking as Minato and the others turned to face him, arms crossed but still poised to move at the slightest sign of an attack. Despite the fact that there was Kushina, who had her katana out, posing an impressive sight, and Jiraiya, who had a scroll open and ready to be used, Orochimaru seemed to only have eyes out for Minato. "I must say, I'm impressed, Minato-kun. Despite your injuries, you continue to be one of the few ninja I find myself compelled to call competent. Still, I wonder how long you can go with that injury of yours."

He knew it wasn't a ploy very likely to work, but Minato raised an eyebrow, hoping to appear woefully ignorant of whatever injury it was the Orochimaru was talking about. The sannin didn't seem to believe it, and continued to go on as a sneer replaced his smirk. "Though, I suspect that is purely through the aid of my old teammate. I knew I should have killed her when I had the chance."

Jiraiya's frame shook as he tried to keep from laughing, but a muffled laugh that sounded more like a snort eventually made it's way out despite his efforts. "As if you stood a chance against the Princess when she gets her panties in a bunch. We both know she'd tear you apart if your dared tried anything." Orochimaru finally looked at Jiraiya and sneered, "Unlike you, I was never scared of that woman. I respect her skill with medical jutsu, but she is nothing compared to me now."

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow, and smirked at Orochimaru, arm on his hip as he stood in a position designed to belittle the other man. "What? A power hungry fool? Or just a monster? The way you use that fox's power for nothing but destruction, you and that fox are one in the same. You're not even human anymore, Orochimaru."

Orochimaru gave a mock bow, "You praise me, Jiraiya. Anything to set myself apart from the likes of you." Minato caught the telltale signs of his sensei stiffening at what his ex-teammate had said. Hoping to diffuse the situation so Jiraiya would not make any careless mistakes, he placed an arm on the man's shoulder, using his sensei's large frame to hide the creation of some shadow clones. He felt Jiraiya relax a bit underneath his touch, but Minato kept his eyes locked on Orochimaru's. "I think we're all tired of this talk Orochimaru. Why don't we just end this once and for all?"

His opponent smirked, and it seemed he had also been able to secretly create a group of clones, because they began to fade into sight from behind various objects around them, and Minato wondered if he hadn't made them when he had been circling them earlier. His own clones had been carefully waiting under the henges of bugs crawling across the floor, and at the first sight of Orochimaru's own distractions, they broke cover and rushed out to destroy the other clones. The two forces met in a large clash, and a moment later smoke was seen as his clones were dispelled, but an even larger number of baby snakes began to drop to the floor when the Orochimaru's clones were destroyed. The remaining number of Minato's clones began to systematically destroy the small poisonous reptiles while the real ninja began to clash.

Minato and Kushina ran in to attack Orochimaru, hoping to give Jiraiya time to use his summoning scroll without being interrupted. It was too early into the fight to waste chakra on a summon using his own energy, and all it required was a few more seconds to perform the needed seals to activate a scroll.

Beating his wife to Orochimaru, Minato brought up his forearm to brush aside a punch that had been aimed for his chest, leaving the snake sannin wide open as Minato pushed off the ground to jump over the man. The opening was designed for Kushina to take advantage of, and without Minato in the way, she used the momentum she had gained running to try and quickly stab at Orochimaru's unprotected stomach. The sannin seemed to be ready for this, and managed to twist his body out of the way at the last second, placing himself right next to Kushina as she continued to run past. Orochimaru's hand came up to strike her, but was unable to continue the attack when a tongue appeared seemingly from no where to wrap around his wrist. The delay gave Kushina more than enough time to avoid being hit, and Minato landed next to her, both of them sparing a moment to look at Jiraiya.

Jiraiya was standing next to a human sized battle toad, its skin a dark gray to help it blend in with its surroundings, and it's entire body was covered in some form of armor. The toad had its mouth open, and its long tongue was fully stretched out, continuing to hold Orochimaru's arm immobile, and allowing Jiraiya the chance to try and run in to attack. Before Minato's teacher had made it to his opponent, Orochimaru had brought up a hand that glowed with a mixture of youki and chakra. He obviously intended to try and cut off the tongue with it, and forced the toad to release its grip. Though it was necessary that the toad let him go in order to avoid serious injury, Jiraiya still cursed at the missed opportunity as he jumped away, choosing not to engage Orochimaru directly.

Orochimaru jumped after Jiraiya, forcing him into heated hand-to-hand combat, pushing Jiraiya further into a corner as Minato moved in to try and provide some relief. Instead of trying to cover the distance and engage in more close range combat directly, Minato decided to up the ante of their fight by introducing more lethal jutsu. Taking one of his specially prepared kunai, he threw it into the wall behind Jiraiya, and continued his headlong rush for his enemy while running through a series of seals. Just before reaching Orochimaru, Minato let out a line of fire from his mouth, forcing Orochimaru to run forward to avoid being caught in the flames. His sensei was further forward, and had time to escape the inferno by jumping directly upward, giving Minato the freedom to attack without having to worry for his safety. Using his hiraishin technique, Minato appeared at the kunai he had thrown, and landed a punch to Orochimaru's face before he could shift his attention from the fire behind him to the new threat in front of him. The attack didn't seem to accomplish much, but it did spark another round of taijutsu between himself and the snake summoner while Minato's teammates could prepare their own attacks.

Minato purposefully kept himself on the defensive, not wanting to risk being tricked as soon as he pushed his advantage too far. He would rather be sure that he had the man in a position from which he couldn't strike back before switching to offense. Unlike their last fight, he had others to help him combat this monster, and he was not going to be foolish enough to try and fight as if he were without their help.

After holding Orochimaru off for a few more seconds, he was joined by the other two, and they began to weave a web of attacks that pushed Orochimaru back. Minato wasn't foolish enough to think that meant they were winning, though, since he knew that the fight wouldn't even truly begin until Orochimaru decided he was being pushed hard enough to use his youki.

Filling in the gap between a Jiraiya's last kick, and his wife's own sword techniques, Minato prepared his chakra for a larger attack using ninjutsu. Tapping his wife on the shoulder as he passed by her, he implicitly trusted that she understood the signal, and Minato began to mold his chakra. Before Orochimaru could fully recover from Jiraiya's last attack, Minato had breathed out fire in all directions, making sure to not aim solely at the demon host. Realizing the danger he was in, Orochimaru used a water jutsu to remove enough of the flames that he remained unharmed as more fire spread past him.

Before the fire could spread too far, though, Kushina had replaced Minato, standing close to Orochimaru as she channeled wind chakra into her katana. Her talent for using jutsu while wielding her weapon was a specialty of hers, and she brought up the blade above her head, and with a mighty swing, used the wind chakra to channel the fire back in towards Orochimaru. Orochimaru could only avoid being hit by the blade before he was hit with the flames from all sides with no way to escape it in time.

They all stood back as they watched the flames engulf Orochimaru, guards still up and stances wary, aware of the possibility that their opponent had found some way to fool them. Their concern didn't seem warranted though, as a few seconds later the flames died down, and Orochimaru stood there, his skin horribly burned, but a calm look on his face. "You'll have to do better than that, Minato-kun." he said, and with a sudden pulse of released youki designed to heal his wounds, treated everyone to the sight of his burns beginning to change into healthy skin once more.

He noticed the danger approaching them from behind a split second after Jiraiya did, and trusted him to handle it as he pondered what to do about Orochimaru. Deciding to simply press his attack, he waited until he heard the sound of three kunai embed themselves in the floor behind him before attacking. Orochimaru had sought to send three poisonous serpents at them while distracting them, but Jiraiya's killing of them would disappoint the snake summoner on some level, and he used that distraction to begin engage him in hand to hand combat. Orochimaru continued to evade and guard against whatever attacks Minato could use against him while healing, using the superior speed and strength he had gained from becoming the Kyuubi's host to its full advantage.

Minato moved just as Orochimaru began to heal the burns on his face, hoping his wife would have more luck hitting him with her weapon while he was distracted with those wounds. Just as they finished healing, and Kushina was about to connect with the man, his mouth opened to reveal the point of a sword. He could tell that before she had a chance to finish her swing that he would be able to stab her with it. Without thinking, he used his hiraishin twice in succession, once to move to Kushina using a seal etched into a kunai he made her keep on her at all times, and then to the kunai he had used on the wall earlier, saving her from being wounded.

Letting go of Kushina, he made a calculated move on his part, and let down his guard, running a hand through his hair. "Orochimaru, why don't you just tell us what it is you want?" he said, watching for the other man's reaction. He disliked conceiting any sort of weakness in front of a traitor like Orochimaru, but his breathing was troubled enough that he needed time to catch his breath, and because he wanted some time to think. Orochimaru was doing everything that could be expected of him when faced with three high level opponents, and hadn't made a single mistake yet. He and the others were winning even faced with Orochimaru's increased physical prowess, but the snake summoner was well accustomed to having to fight multiple opponents. He would no doubt fight them tooth and nail, dragging it out as long as possible until they tired enough that he could strike. If anything, Minato had to find a way to make him force his hand early on, so they could combat him at his full strength before they became too drained to handle whatever he threw at them effectively.

Orochimaru smirked, obviously enjoying the chance to crow a bit. "What a cliché question."

Minato shrugged, placing his hands in his pockets and adopting a posture of bored superiority he remembered Shikamaru's father for. "Terribly sorry to disappoint you, but given that we are winning, I would prefer to know exactly what it is you're throwing your life away for."

As he knew the other man would, he rose to Minato's bait, and his cheeks colored as his anger began to get the better of him. No doubt he realized on some level that it was part of a plan to make him demonstrate more of his power, but his ego meant he was unable to turn the other cheek when insulted or considered weak.

Orochimaru's stance lowered, and it seemed to be an unconscious reaction as he began to release enough youki that Minato began to feel it in the air around him. "The comment about winning in a fight against me is laughable, but I do this to be rid of annoying pests like you who stand in the way of my goals. Weak fools who think they have the right to stop me from doing what I want. Once I am rid of them, I can study any jutsu I want without you annoying pests trying to interfere. Soon not only Grass country will be under my control, but all the major villages will have been brought under my command so I can begin my reign."

Kushina looked contemplative for a moment, and then nodded as if she reached some sort of decision. "You're not a ninja, Orochimaru. Or at least, not a very GOOD one." She said it in a matter of fact tone, but without the normal vehemence she reserved for the snake sannin, instead choosing to address him simple, as if she were hardly interested in what she was saying.

Orochimaru's youki and chakra spiked dangerously for a moment, but he stayed his hand and settled on turning slowly to glare at Kushina, his whole body shaking with his rage. "What did you say, trash?" He asked, his voice dangerous and low, each word forced out between clenched teeth.

The thread of conversation passed to Jiraiya next, and he shrugged as he walked towards Orochimaru, looking as if he were explaining something for the hundredth time to a particularly student. "What she means, Orochimaru, is that you never figured out what it is that defines a real ninja is. Hell, even I figured it out, though I admit that it took a few of Sarutobi sensei's lectures to get it through my thick skull. Too bad he never thought to have one with his so called star pupil."

Orochimaru's shaking began to grow worse, and Minato wondered if the youki was beginning to overcome his reason. He had to proceed carefully, but there was a part of him that enjoyed the chance to redress the mistakes and false notions Orochimaru had accumulated. "Orochimaru," he began, and the sannin looked up at him, his eyes stained blood-red from the youki pouring through his body. Minato ignored the unspoken threat it represented, and took on the posture he would when he was lecturing one of his students about something important.

"Orochimaru," he began again, "What they mean is you lack the right character to be a ninja. Did you ever stop to wonder why Konoha was the strongest of the ninja villages? What is it about Konoha ninja that set them apart from ninja from other village? You speak of being the most powerful, or knowing the most techniques, but what purpose does that really serve you? Any and all jutsu, was it? You won't even have an opportunity to use half of them. It's a nice hobby, sure, but so worth it you would kill innocents to achieve it? More importantly, your other goal, and the one that most ninja seem to desire the most, power. Tell me, do you truly think that with so much power that you'll really be able to do anything you want? Sure, it will make many things simpler and open a great many doors for you, but there will always be something that you cannot do. So that brings us to WHY you're not a good ninja, Orochimaru."

Minato began to walk slowly around Orochimaru, who followed his every move like an angry and caged feral animal. "I won't deny that you are one of the most intelligent ninja in the history of the continent" Minato said. "But you can't seem to figure out the reasons why you should fight. I'm sure you've heard this countless times when you were young, but you never did understand why we stress that you should fight to protect, did you? The fact that Konoha had so many ninja willing to put their lives on the line for the right reasons is what made us strong. People like you shy away when they have to face the possibility of dying, even if it's for the right reasons. A real ninja knows that he is what stands between danger and those he cares for. A real ninja is the last one standing, because he knows if he makes one last stand it may be enough to save another."

Minato stopped his pacing and turned to give Orochimaru a hard look. "You are nothing but a scared little boy, Orochimaru. One with too much of your precious 'power', and there is no chance you could ever wield it properly. You will never discover the true capability of a ninja who has a cause to fight for. THAT is why even the lowliest ninja who understands this, no matter their knowledge of jutsu or the amount of power they have, is better than you will ever be."

The sannin's temper seemed to break, and he lunged at Minato, youki practically blasting away from his body. Still, Minato had expected that, and was more surprised it had taken so long for the rage to take over. He had purposefully moved away from Kushina and Jiraiya expecting to be attacked at some point in his speech. Using a kawarimi with a crate on an alcove above him, Minato managed to avoid being hit by the enraged demon host. Reaching into his pouch, he removed another kunai with the hiraishin seal etched into it, and using the shadow replication technique, spread them across the most immediate portion of the warehouse.

Using the technique to appear behind Orochimaru, Minato hoped that perhaps this would finally be the end of their fighting.

X X X

Jiraiya cursed, and had to push himself off the wall he was on, just narrowly avoiding being caught in a giant hand made of earth, and infused with youki, that had formed out of the floor in order to capture him. Releasing some chakra from his hands in order to better protect them from the youki, he lunged, grabbing onto one of the giant earthen fingers, and swung around feet first, surprising Orochimaru and kicking him in the face with both feet. His opponent and one time teammate slid back, but otherwise didn't show any signs of being injured.

Or maybe it was better to say it healed too fast for it to be noticeable. Only the more severe injuries seemed to take time to heal, whereas the smaller ones healed too quickly to really help in tiring Orochimaru out. He was starting to get an idea of how to handle that problem, but he wasn't sure how to go about using it at this point in time.

Jumping back to avoid a counterattack, he landed on the wide back of the battle toad he summoned, using it as a quick get away. Kushina filled in his spot; her blade alive with chakra, perhaps being one of the more dangerous things Orochimaru had to guard against, for Jiraiya doubted he could regrow a limb, or his head, if he made a mistake against her. For now they were continuing their hit and run tactics, using each other's attacks against their opponent to exploit whatever openings it created. Against a normal opponent, the fight would have long been over, but Orochimaru had proved both cunning and had enough energy to heal everything they had used on him so far.

Jiraiya winced at that thought, looking down at the chest plate of his toad's armor, where it had been severely dented when the amphibian had gotten too close moments earlier. A single kick had managed to create damage to some of the hardest steel known to man, and it no doubt made it hard for the toad to breath and move with it being as damaged as it was. They had decided that it would support them from behind instead, using its speed and ability to help protect others instead of trying to have the toad engage in combat.

Kushina let loose a hoarse yell, her sword positioned above her and swinging downward to strike at Orochimaru's shoulder. The man managed to duck underneath the blade, and bringing himself inside her guard, began to lift his knee up to strike at her middle section. Before he even had to give it the signal, his toad let loose it's tongue, and wrapping it around Kushina's waist, reeling her in before she could be hit.

Minato was the next one to fill in the void, and started to attack Orochimaru. His old teammate surprised his student though, and took out a kunai covered in some sort of oily residue that shined in the light. He threw it at Minato, and forced his student to stop his charge and dodge the blade, narrowly missing being hit by what they could only assume was a poisoned kunai. From there, things began a downhill spiral for Minato, as he wasn't able to regain his initiative, and Orochimaru took him to task. He was being careful to make sure that anything Jiraiya or Kushina could try without getting directly in there and fighting hand to hand, would have disastrous results. So far it was Minato's own natural speed, and the help of his seals, that allowed him to be the only one on an even footing with Orochimaru in terms of speed and power. Still, judging by the sweat pouring down his face, and the hard breathing, Jiraiya could tell that his injuries were slowly weakening him.

Minato seemed to realize how poor a position he was in, and used his hiraishin technique to escape, leaving Orochimaru unoccupied for a moment. Signaling to Kushina to fill in the gap, Jiraiya positioned himself farther away from the fighting, preparing to use one of his stronger jutsu. He was going to bind that bastard teammate of his so tightly that he wouldn't know up from down when he was done with him.

Molding his chakra, he waited until it was just about ready to be released before letting the others know. "MOVE IT!" he shouted, and they obeyed, jumping out of the way as Orochimaru looked up just in time to see Jiraiya finish his jutsu.

Racing along the ground towards his opponent were the fleshy walls of his toad mouth enclosure, and judging off his previous levels of speed, and how close it was to him, Jiraiya felt confident that Orochimaru wouldn't have enough time to escape.

Instead of moving though, Orochimaru smirked, and raised a hand in some sort of signal. Responding to the call, four Anbu ninja, who must have repressed their chakra and remained under a henge, burst into existence in the path of his technique. In a flash of released youki, they managed to destroy Jiraiya's technique before it had a chance to completely finish and fortify itself against such an attack. No doubt Orochimaru had been prepared for a technique such as this, and he had managed to fool them completely, no doubt knowing the amount of chakra being thrown around by the four of them would be more than enough to hide his men.

Despite his remaining temper from before, Orochimaru still adopted some of his normal mannerisms, and waved a hand dismissively. "Always the same Jiraiya. Unfortunately for you, whatever you may say about my ability, I already know what you have planned." Jiraiya rolled his eyes, "Geeze, Orochimaru. Touchy about the whole weak-minded thing are we? Besides, you're the one who had to call on his goon squad to deal with the technique, so if I were you, I might not get on my high horse about it."

Orochimaru snarled, "I don't need to waste my time with trash like you, Jiraiya." Orochimaru turned to glare at the Anbu, picking out on in particular to give his orders to, and Jiraiya made sure to mark him as being the leader of the group. "I want you to disable him. You're not to kill him, that pleasure will be mine alone." His one-time teammate's words left no room misinterpretation, and the Anbu nodded. Those orders worked fine for Jiraiya. If they were not willing to kill him out right, the fight should be much simpler, but he was worried about what that meant for Minato and Kushina, given whom they would have to fight alone.

Jiraiya gave a quick glance towards Minato and Kushina, and he saw both of them give him a small nod. Knowing they understood his hesitation, they obviously understood the need to remove the extra ninja from the fight. Concentrating for a moment, he didn't immediately find any additional ninja laying in wait, and sighed. He felt bad about leaving them to fight Orochimaru by themselves, but there was no other way around the problem. Jiraiya gave them a quick one-handed salute before he ran to the other side of the warehouse, far away from the others and their own fight. The anbu squad followed on his heals, and as soon as he stopped, they began to spread out in an attempt to surround them.

Grinning broadly, he pointed at the leader of the squad, "Do you know who you're fighting?! I'm the great Jiraiya, ya know! So back down and I might let you live." He posed for them, enjoying the thought of their awed faces, and was laughing up until the point that he had a kunai thrown at him. He pouted even as he was forced to dodge the projectile. It seemed like the anbu just weren't anywhere near as much fun these days, still, his antics had served their purpose.

Picking out the target by the one Orochimaru had pointed at earlier, the battle toad landed behind the anbu leader, and used his tongue to break the group's formation and spread them out aimlessly. Using the confusion he had sowed, he took the opportunity to summon a large number of smaller battle toads to back him up. Even though the largest of these toads only came up to the middle of his shin, what they lacked in strength and size was more than made up for in the fact that they were fast, and incredibly aggressive.

He grinned as he faded into the shadows, hearing the anbu curse when they found themselves on the receiving end of the small knives the toads carried. No doubt they were realizing that though they were small, they were not to be underestimated. Still, he didn't doubt that given their rank they were smart enough to quickly figure out how to best combat the large number of creatures attacking them.

Jiraiya forced his chakra down to remain hidden and took his time to slowly sneak towards one of the ninja that had made the mistake of standing away from his fellows. Jiraiya decided to start his attack with him, and took a moment to watch how he fought. The man seemed to favor the use a whip that was covered in flames as well as youki, and he was showing to be quite proficient in using it to keep his toads at bay. Deciding it was best to not get too close to him, Jiraiya decided on a plan of action.

Creating a rock clone from the materials around him, the toad hermit used a good deal of his chakra to make sure it would be able to withstand a few blows from the man's weapon. Rock clones, while being unable to move very far from the user and requiring a good deal of chakra, did provide the possibility of using them to absorb damage, as they were made of more durable material than most clones.

He was counting on just that to make what he had in mind work.

As soon as the clone stepped out of the shadows, the anbu, to his credit, changed tactics and focused on Jiraiya's doppleganger. Before the clone could finish moving in an attempt to grab its kunai, the whip had wrapped around the clone's arm, holding it at bay. The man used the opportunity to draw closer cautiously, hoping to secure a quick and easy kill while the clone pretended to be in pain from the youki being applied to its arm. He wasn't prepared for the clone suddenly stopping and grinning at him, though, and was unable to prevent it from jumping in close to wrap it in a big hug, pinning both of his arms against his body.

The clones face turned serious, "Never underestimate the Toad sannin and best author in the world!" it shouted before turning back into stone, holding the ninja still. Jiraiya had put enough chakra into that clone that he wasn't too worried about the other man breaking out, youki or not, in the time it would take him to take care of the others, so long as he was quick about it.

Moving on, he saw that the other three ninja were fighting together, and he held back a groan when he realized that they represented a balanced team. The man he had just finished fighting with was obviously the weapon specialist, and these three represented the other major ninja arts. The leader of their cell seemed to be a ninjutsu specialist, and the other two seemed well versed in genjutsu and taijutsu.

What was worse was the fact that they obviously were quite a good team together. They obviously had been working together for a long time, judging by the brutal efficiency with which they were tearing through the ranks of toads. The sight of the number he must have lost to keeping them busy made Jiraiya wince. He would have to remember to give his respect to the toad clan if he made it out of this. The toads couldn't truly die, but that didn't make it anymore of a pleasant experience for them to be forcefully dispelled, either.

For now, the smaller toads had taken up with the larger one Jiraiya had summoned earlier, and they were working as a team to try and survive. The large toad acting as guardian to his smaller siblings, while mounting the spearhead of their offensive. Judging by the summon's skill, he was surprised by it's ranking and size, and he didn't doubt if it survived this fight it would be due for a promotion in it's clan when it returned to it's own world.

Still, he had better things to do than worry about things like that, like finding a way to break up that team enough to try and end the fight fast enough he could go and aid the others again.

Summoning another handful of the smaller battle toads, he quickly gave them a message to pass onto their brethren, and the order to be discreet about that he was planning. Jiraiya waited for them to mix in with the other toads, and watched as the larger toad broke off from his siblings, and the two forces separated just enough that they would be ready for when Jiraiya had broken cover. Not wanting to have his summons have to fight in such a weak formation for too long, the sannin was quick about his jutsu, and next thing anyone knew, he was digging a tunnel using earth jutsu until he was directly underneath his opponents.

Jiraiya's whole strategy was actually based loosely off using an earth based assassination technique to pull his enemy underground, and though he doubted it would work, it would give him the distraction he needed.

Coming up as quickly and quietly as possible, he tried his best to capture the nearby genjutsu user, but wasn't too surprised when the three ninja scattered, avoiding being caught by his technique. Ignoring the ninja he had just reached for, Jiraiya began to attack the ninja who had not jumped towards the toads, which also happened to be the leader of their cell.

For now, he just wanted the toads to keep the other two generally where they were, while Jiraiya herded his target back towards them. Putting on a burst of speed, he ducked a fireball from his target, and kicked out one of the anbu's feet, and before he even had time to react to the loss in his balance, Jiraiya was holding onto his collar. Using his momentum, he stopped moving and let himself spin around, sending his opponent flying back towards his team.

Without even taking a moment to stop his spinning, Jiraiya molded his chakra, and just as the ninja he had thrown touched the floor by his friends, the toad summoner finished his technique. All around them a deep swamp began to form, and Jiraiya saw out of the corner of his eyes how the man he had captured in stone sunk underneath its murky depths. He felt sorry for a moment, but knew that what he had to do meant he hadn't been able to guarantee the survival of those he fought.

Pushing the thought out of his mind, he saw the toads starting to disperse their oil in his swamp, preparing for his flaming swamp technique. Surprisingly, though, the anbu seemed to have been forewarned of what he was about to do, for he saw the ninjutsu user began to prepare walls of stone and air to protect them.

Jiraiya frowned, but wasn't too worried about the development. It wasn't as if he hadn't learned a few tricks either.

X X X

Kushina felt as if her heart would break at seeing Minato in so much pain as he struggled for breath while he fought. She knew he was using that horrible seal to try and help keep up with Orochimaru, but it didn't make it any easier for her to see him pushing himself so hard. Part of her wanted to yell at him to stop, knowing that he was only injuring himself by fighting so hard, but the more rational part stayed her tongue.

It was a fool's desire to make him stop, given the circumstances, and she had as much right to tell him he wasn't allowed to fight as he did in trying to stop her from fighting. They both understood when they gave into their feelings for one another and wed that they would have to respect the other's wishes when it came to fighting for a good reason. Right now Minato was fighting to protect everyone, and maybe even defeat Orochimaru once and for all, and she had no right to deny him that.

Moving in to divert Orochimaru's attention away from Minato, Kushina tried to buy Minato time to breath and recover some of his strength. Without the help Jiraiya and his toad provided them, they had been forced to take on a more aggressive style of combat against the snake sannin. Unfortunately, that job fell mostly to Minato, who through his hiraishin technique, and his own physical prowess, was the one best suited to fighting Orochimaru.

Unlike Minato, or even her thirteen year old son, Kushina was well aware she didn't have anywhere close to enough chakra or stamina to directly combat Orochimaru. Between his innate skill, and the use of youki, it would be impossible for her to continuously fight against him, and would have only caused her to grow tired too quickly to be of use to anyone. She was a woman in what most would consider a man's line of work, and she couldn't expect to win with strength or stamina. Girls were fundamentally built differently, so she played to her own strengths, and that was how she had found her calling as a swordsman. She had even been considered one of the most brilliant practitioners to have ever learned clan's sword style.

Normally she didn't care about such titles and honors. In her mind it was more than enough to put everything she had into her swordplay, letting it become an extension of herself and trusting in her weapon. Now though, she felt a small panicked portion of her soul that was glad she was as proficient with her blade as her family had always carried on about. All that stood between Orochimaru and those she cared about was her sword, and she wielded it with a skill that would have awed any with an appreciation for the art of swordplay.

Still, she was beginning to feel that maybe that wouldn't be enough in this case.

Kushina had faced a great many difficult opponents, but very few had matched Orochimaru in terms of innate skill. With his youki to aid him, she was honestly scared that she and Minato wouldn't win. This fight was too important to lose, and she stood on a razor's edge from making the single mistake that could spell the end.

Without giving Orochimaru so much as a chance to recuperate, Kushina ended one kata and made a seamless transition into the next, forcing Orochimaru to avoid the razor sharp edge of her blade. Earlier in the fight, she and the others had been able to work as a team, trusting the other to defend the one committing themselves to an offensive, but now that Jiraiya was unable to help them, the fight had become more focused on defense for Kushina and Minato. For now it was her job to act as Minato's guardian while he recovered, and she wasn't going to let him down. This kata was complex, and designed to provide her with a good deal of both defensive moves and offensive, and she hoped it would be enough to keep him busy for however long Minato needed.

Kushina knew this kata so well it was almost as if it were an old friend, and she knew exactly what to do to protect herself when Orochimaru tried to slip around one of her attacks. Waiting until he had truly committed himself to his attack, Kushina let her chakra flow into the seals that ran along her blade, the chakra running back from the hilt to protect her. Though it was a minor wound to someone like Orochimaru, she managed to score a reasonably deep cut along his ribs when he was sent off balance by the chakra. A darker part of her soul was rather pleased to see that he had to hold a hand against the wound to staunch the flow of blood as well.

This man had hurt her children, all three of them, and she wasn't going to feel satisfied until the man paid a hundred times over for what he had not only done to her and her brood, but every other family he had ruined.

She knew she should remain cold about the fight, and not let her feelings get in the way, but this man made her blood boil with hatred. She couldn't understand how someone could go to such horrible lengths to fulfill their own petty agendas. Despite her upbringing in an environment where throughout the land, 'might made right' was the view on life, she had never been able to comprehend how one could do malignant things and think it was the right choice.

Konoha had been the balm her soul was in desperate need of, and she knew it was no exaggeration to say that finding a place like the village hidden in the leaves was what had kept her from giving up on being a ninja. They had supported all the ideas that those outside her clan had not, and was proof about the strength of those convictions. They preached the importance of protection and caring, and always tried to ensure every party in a conflict received only what they deserved, good or ill, never raising a hand to strike without reason.

Truthfully, the place had been a sort of paradise for her. Not only was she surrounded by strong ninja who shared the same views she did, but she had also been able to get to know and fall in love with Minato. A man who put other ninja to shame not only with his talent, but how strictly he adhered to the concepts of caring and using his power to protect others as often as possible.

So the other part of her pitied the man in front of her for all he had taken for granted. To have grown up surrounded by the ninja who embraced the will of fire, and never understood its meaning, was almost too sad. It was almost impossible for her to accept that it was even possible to grow up in an environment like that and turn out like he had.

Frowning at the directions her thoughts were taking her, Kushina forced herself to fight without being distracted. She could see Minato was starting to get his breathing under control, and she knew in another moment he would be able to help her mount a better offense than they were doing now.

Orochimaru seemed to notice as well, and for the first time since they had begun to fight, made a serious error. Thought it was a very small opening in his guard, Kushina was attacking before he had the time to cover the mistake he made of becoming too distracted. Sliding the tip of her katana past his guard, she felt it pierce flesh, striking Orochimaru in the chest. Though she knew she had not struck anything vital, it was still a wound that would heal slowly despite his youki, and the shock it would produce in Orochimaru could be used to launch even more devastating attacks. In fact, she intended to try and use the opportunity to injure him more when the worst began to happen, and Orochimaru seemed to lose control of himself.

Kushina could almost feel his rage through the blood lust that now filled the air. The feeling was so strong she could taste the coppery taste of blood in her mouth, and she knew that what was about to happen next would be bad.

She was right, and she felt the youki build up as she tried to withdraw her blade in time, but wasn't fast enough to escape before Orochimaru released it from his all of his tenketsu at once. The force of it sent her flying, and though normally she would have relaxed her body and used chakra to absorb the impact, the youki had hurt her too much to think clearly. Instead, she hit the wall hard enough that she heard bones break, and slid to the floor, and she barely held onto the hilt of her katana.

Kushina groaned, trying to ignore the pounding inside of her head, and struggled to open her eyes and at least see the face of her murderer before the end, but the light hurt too much, forcing her to keep them screwed shut. She realized in an absent manner as her thoughts began to become harder to piece together that she must have hit her head harder than she thought. She also dimly recognized the heat coming off of her body, and she realized she must have been burned worse from the youki than she thought. No doubt she was a right mess, and in need of medical attention, but somehow the fog in her head was making it easy to ignore the pain, and she just wanted to slip into a deep sleep. No matter how much she tried to find it in herself to get up and continue her fight, she just didn't have the energy to move anymore.

Despite her efforts to stop it, Kushina was about to cross over the threshold into unconsciousness when she heard a pained grunt come from in front of her. In some way that was hard to grasp onto at the moment, she knew that she recognized whoever it had come from. Forcing herself to focus, the realization shot through the fog of her head wound, and she knew that it was Minato.

Bracing herself against the oncoming pain, Kushina forced her eyes open, and squinted, letting her vision come into focus to see Minato making a stand in front of her. He had given up on using the hiraishin to protect his body, and instead was standing there locked in hand to hand combat with Orochimaru, keeping him from reaching her. She could see that he was panting hard, and blood was flying out of his mouth with each breath, but even worse was the look of pain in his eyes. Though his face was as stoic as it normally was in the middle of a fight, she could see how much it hurt him to do what he was doing for her.

Orochimaru though seemed to be growing frustrated at the lack of expression, and began to pepper an increasing amount of blows upon her husband. Minato tried his best to block them, but was so fatigued that his timing seemed to be a split second too slow in most cases, and she could tell he knew it was an untenable situation as well. The bloody fool was going to sacrifice himself to try and protect her, knowing full well he had no chance if he fought head on.

Kushina felt the tears pool up in her eyes, not caring if she appeared weak in front of Orochimaru. The man she loved was being hurt because she had made a fool's decision, and gotten injured for it. She also cursed at the fact that she hadn't been able to protect her children, and she didn't doubt Orochimaru would hunt Naruto down when this was over; dooming him and the other two should they not get that medicine. She also cursed at being denied her chance to grow old and be happy with Minato. The only man who had the skill, and the knowledge, to protect the next generation and prepare them for Orochimaru's rule, and he was going to die here protecting her.

She had never felt so helpless in her life.

"I won't let you hurt her."

Kushina looked up at the sound of Minato's declaration, and saw how Orochimaru's eyes tightened at the command in his tone. Something about his voice brought her back from the edge of her breakdown, and she took a moment to calmly think about the situation. It was desperate, and a fool's choice any other time, but she had remembered one thing she could still do that might help them at least some of them survive. Kushina knew that if there was ever a time to do what she was about to do, it was now, and damn the consequences.

No doubt Minato would hate her for it, or perhaps it would be better to say he wouldn't forgive her for what she was about to do, but Kushina could live with that fact. To her, it was more important that he didn't lose his life trying to protect her. He was too important to her, too important to everyone, and this was the only way to injure Orochimaru enough that he had a chance to escape and continue to help people so they could win this damned war someday.

Kushina tightened her grip on her katana, and though it was painful and incredibly slow, she managed to force herself to her feet. She didn't look up until she stood tall, back straight, for what she was about to do was as much about her mind as the chakra and skills it required. She had grown up with a sword in hand, had come to understand it's every intricacy as well as the philosophy a practitioner of the art should have, and she would die with pride using a sword to stop her enemy.

Molding her chakra carefully, Kushina began the ritual set out in her mind. This final technique was one that she had been taught by the clan once they were sure she would never use it in any but the most hopeless of times. She could think of no better time than this, and with a calm efficiency, she drew the edge of her blade along major arteries in both of her arms, letting the blade drink in her life blood. She only felt a momentary swoop in her stomach at the loss of the blood before she activated the jutsu, and the calm collected mindset every swordsman sought settled over her.

She no longer felt the pain of her injuries, or the hate for the man in front of her. All that remained in her mind was an iron will to see that the deed she had sacrificed herself for was done. This would be her final jutsu, and there was no coming back from what was about to happen, but she was fine with that now.

Feeling the surge of chakra rise to the fore, Kushina covered the distance between her and the two fighting men in a single moment, and back fisted Orochimaru away. The man was sent flying, and she saw him hit a wall hard, but she hardly cared about that fact. Turning to Minato, she could see the realization in his eyes as he slowly caught onto what she intended to do.

Not letting him get a chance to speak, she placed a palm on his cheek, and leaned in to give him a soft kiss on the lips. "I love you, Minato." And with that, she turned around and left him behind as she hunted down the man she had set out to kill.

X X X

Minato was captivated by watching Kushina in action, leaving him unable to look anywhere but at her. Even in what would be the last few moments of her life, the vitality that poured off of her attracted him like a moth to the flame. No matter how angry he was with her for performing a self-sacrificing jutsu, the will she showed to be able to sacrifice her life for him and her family drew him in, and he found his thoughts completely fixated on her.

That didn't stop the pain from building in his chest at the thought, though. Even if he wanted to go to her side and try to stop her, he knew it was too late to bring her back with him. More than that, she would have been disappointed in him had he tried to stop her.

Trying to get a better hold over his emotions, Minato fought back the tears that threatened to spill from his eyes at his impending loss. There were only a few moments left to him to watch Kushina, and he didn't want to squander a single second of the time he had before last of her life blood left her. He knew he should have left when she begun the jutsu, but he felt compelled to be there at her side when the jutsu came to an end, both for her comfort and his own peace of mind. The memories would haunt him if he couldn't be there to help her pass easily.

No matter that she had become everything she warned this jutsu would make her. She was cold, efficient, and damn near unstoppable with her blade. Despite that, he still believed that she would want him there at the end.

Orochimaru though was not too far from his mind, even as affected as he was by what Kushina had unleashed. Making himself look away from his wife for a moment, he numbly recognized that perhaps he should feel pity for the man, though he didn't deserve it.

The snake sannin was a complete mess, and seemed to barely be able to stand against Kushina's onslaught. His body was riddled with cuts, and he knew for a fact that those were only the ones that hadn't healed yet, while his clothes were stained a dark red in his own blood. So far the bastard had been lucky enough to avoid a fatal blow, but he wasn't sure if he could keep that up judging by the way Kushina stuck to him, always attacking.

Turning his gaze back to her, his heart ached to see the look on her face. Buried deep under the jutsu's mind altering effects, his wife lurked, but all she showed the world as an impassive face. Quite like the steel she held in her hands. The look was hard, and didn't show an ounce of pride at what she had accomplished, or discouragement at the fact Orochimaru remained standing. All that existed in her world was the cause she had given her life to the sword to see through. A slight edge of pain bled through the carefully constructed barriers he had put on his emotions, and he let out a harsh laugh. Orochimaru had no idea what he had unleashed.

His attention shifted to Orochimaru as he suddenly jumped back, putting a large amount of space between him and Kushina. Even from his distance, he could feel the man building up a large amount of chakra and youki, though for a jutsu or to just intimidate, he didn't know. It was enough though that he began to worry what Kushina would do to stop it, and looking back at her, he didn't see even a flicker of recognition in her expression at the power being summoned up by Orochimaru.

Just before the power reached a crescendo, Kushina began to run in towards Orochimaru, her purple tresses trailing behind her as she covered the distance before Orochimaru could hope to retreat further. She seemed to be unconcerned about her own defense, and simply raised her sword above her head, prepared to take Orochimaru's head with her next attack.

Perhaps the sannin had realized that he was fighting someone with nothing left to lose, because he gave up trying to intimidate her, and leaned back just in time to save his neck. The rest of him was not so lucky though, as Kushina quickly rotated her wrist, and brought her sword down in a tight circle. There was no way for him to avoid the beautifully executed strike, and Kushina claimed one of his hands at the wrist, causing the appendage to fall to the floor.

Orochimaru stared down at the stump, shock setting in as the realization he was grievously injured began to permeate his blood lust. He was almost too involved in it to avoid the next attack Kushina made. Stumbling back he escaped having his chest cut fully open, and instead managed to only receive another gash from one armpit to the other. Regaining his balance, he ran off, putting distance between him and Kushina, taking the time to tie off a piece of his shirt around the wrist to slow the bleeding.

Kushina for her part seemed to not care, not having wasted her time crowing over the damage she caused, and had attacked without letting curiosity at his reaction slow her blade. To Minato, there was a savage beauty in how Kushina was acting right now. He held no love for violence or senseless brutality, but he understood why she had performed the jutsu she had. It didn't make it easier to accept, but he did feel blessed to have been able to know someone who could care as much for others as Kushina did. It showed in everything she did, including these last few moments, and to Minato, it was beyond precious.

From that moment on, Minato kept his eyes fixed solely on Kushina, drinking in everything that happened. He didn't give a thought to his own safety, or the mounting damage Orochimaru was receiving, all that mattered was Kushina in his mind. At this rate, it was more than likely that she would be able to defeat her opponent by herself, and he wanted to take the chance to imprint this last memory of her into his head. Even the burns and bruises seemed to be beautiful on her, and none of it would be forgotten.

That would be his tribute to her. Instead of getting angry at her sacrifice, he would immortalize this moment.

Even though it felt much longer, it was only another minute or two before the fight was reaching it's apex, and it was far too soon for Minato's liking. He knew that Kushina could not keep up her breakneck pace much longer, and he could see how the blood flowing down from the cuts and onto her katana was beginning to slow, the blood used to fuel the jutsu becoming exhausted.

Tearing his eyes off his wife to look at her opponent, he actually winced when he noticed the shape the man was in. He could see portion of bone sticking out through wounds on his arms and legs from where Kushina had managed to sneak in a particularly devastating attack with her blade. The worst of his injuries though were no doubt the loss of his hand, and a large portion of this thigh was mangled from various attacks, making it difficult for the man to move or support weight on that leg. It wasn't a pretty sight, and was enough to turn even turn Minato's stomach, but it was necessary he knew. If Orochimaru could escape, then the demon would be able to heal most of his wounds in time, and even keep him alive long enough to seek proper medical attention for the worst injuries. The fight would have to end here if they were to ever put a stop to this madness. They hadn't come into this fight expecting to defeat the man, but now that they were so close to ending the madness of the past decade, he understood that it was an opportunity too golden to let pass by them.

Kushina charged at the maimed snake summoner, her sword flashing in the light as it flowed around her body, weaving an intricate dance as she began another kata. Orochimaru stumbled through a series of evasions and blocks, but soon faltered when he tried to bring up a kunai to stop her blade and instead found the tip of the katana in his bicep. The attack was enough to throw his arm wide, and eliminate any chance that he could protect himself from the next attack.

Minato watched as Kushina brought her sword up for the finishing blow, and he knew Orochimaru would be too slow to escape in time.

Just as Kushina was about to bring down her katana and claim Orochimaru's head, a sharp and readily familiar spike of chakra filled the air around them. Kushina's blade froze in it's decent, and Minato's own body stiffened as he recognized what he had felt and began to imagine the worst. Naruto was in trouble, and obviously he was fighting for his life to have to use so much chakra at once.

Kushina turned her head enough to face him, and Minato's eyes locked with hers, and for a moment emotion passed through her previously cold eyes. She was afraid for their child, and he recognized the plea in them for Minato to help save him.

He nodded, and she seemed to visibly relax for a moment before falling back into the hardened look she'd adopted for this fight. Though she turned back to face Orochimaru, sword still poised to strike, the moment she had spent communicating her worry to Minato had been too long.

In his remaining hand, Orochimaru held his grass cutter poised to strike, and before she could react, the point of the blade pierced her neck, clearing through the skin and bone to appear on the other side.

Minato watched in horror as more blood than he thought she still had in her came out of her neck. So much blood, and even more came out when Orochimaru extracted the blade, removing her support. Slowly, far too slowly, Kushina fell to the ground, and Minato felt something deep and terrible grow inside him, gaining strength as the eternity with which she fell dragged on.

Minato knew that whatever this feeling was, when the moment had passed and she hit the floor, it would consume him. It was a dark and terrible feeling, but he almost looked forward to it coming, as it would be a way to distract his mind from the reality of what had happened.

Memories of their time together began to play through his head, and he felt as if his heart was climbing into his throat. He thought he had been ready for her to give her life to protect everyone, but there was something horrible and profane about dying like this. He couldn't accept that she had died for nothing.

He watched Kushina hit the ground, the blood already draining from her wound to pool about her body, and the dark feeling inside of his chest exploded. Before he knew what he was doing, he was on his feet, chakra building up in his palm.

It was an odd feeling. He wasn't exactly sure what he planned to do, but it didn't surprise him in the slightest to note that he had begun to home in on a marked kunai near Orochimaru. The man had the audacity to stand over his wife, smirking as if he were better than her, and he wouldn't let him get away with that. The man had no right to insult her memory like that, he didn't even had the right to be in her presence.

Before he could think through his actions, he was standing in front of Orochimaru, blocking his view of Kushina. In his hand was a rasengan, and he thrust his arm out, digging it into the man's unprotected stomach as he poured an absurd amount of chakra into the technique.

He didn't let it show, but it made him feel good to see how the rasengan tore at the man in front of him, making a bloody mess of his stomach before he was sent flying away from the force of the attack. Minato didn't particularly care at that moment if it would kill him or not. He would have his revenge soon enough.

Turning around, he knelt down next to Kushina, and he felt his throat close up at how her eyes slowly tracked towards him. They had lost the harsh quality her jutsu had given them, and he reached out to hold her hand, hoping to give her some comfort. He didn't let himself look at her wound, and instead settled on giving her a sad smile, hoping she understood how much she meant to him. Her eyes brightened for a moment as she seemed to comprehend what he was trying to convey to her, and a very small smile tugged at the edges of her lips a well.

Kushina gave his hand a very small squeeze, and his heart wrenched when her lips began to move with no sound coming out of them. Still, he didn't need to hear what she was saying to understand.

"I'll protect them. Now rest, love." She gave an almost invisible nod, and closed her eyes, and in the next moment he felt her grip loosen in his. Minato let go of her hand, and cupped her cheek in his hand.

Kushina was dead, and a part of Minato had gone with her when she passed on.

Minato stood up slowly, drawing himself to his full height, and took off his coat so he could carefully spread it over Kushina's upper body. It almost seemed as if she were asleep, and he was trying to help her avoid catching a cold. Another sad smile tugged at his lips after thinking of such a mundane thing before the emotion had passed, replaced by a cold void.

Reaching deep within himself, Minato found his chakra, and began to pull it out. He didn't care about restraint, and instead took everything he had, and used it to do the one thing he had held out on doing the whole fight. Feeling the seals spread across his body, he pushed everything he had into them, forcing the first gate wide open, letting the energy and well being it provided permeate through his body. He no longer cared if it destroyed his lung to use this technique at full strength. Instead, all he had left to do was fulfill was his promise to Kushina.

Minato slowly turned to look in the direction of where Jiraiya had run off to earlier, knowing he had to speak to the man before this was over. He didn't react when he saw a flaming fist rise from Jiraiya's swamp to crush his final opponent, even though he had never seen the technique before. He simply waited for him to come over, and he couldn't find it in himself to care much about what had happened to the man he had been fighting.

He assumed his sensei made a quick check that it was indeed the end of his fight before he began to run over to where Minato was standing. In a flash of movement, he appeared in the path of his old teacher, far away from the corpse of Kushina. Somewhere behind him lay the injured Orochimaru, but he didn't care as he kept his eyes on Jiraiya. Minato studied the man's features for a moment before the toad sannin made it to his side, and found he was genuinely worried for the other man, despite the depth of his depression.

He spoke up when his teacher drew up in front of him "Jiraiya. Go help Naruto." His voice was soft, but he made sure that he left no room for questions. Minato knew his teacher was every bit as stubborn as himself, but he couldn't allow him to be here for what was about to happen.

Jiraiya predictably looked unsettled. "Minato. What's wrong. I felt a tremendous amount of chakra for a few minutes but it's stopped now. Tell me what happened." Even though he didn't want to bring attention to the fact, Minato owed it to his teacher, so he simply moved out of the way, giving the man he saw as a father an unobstructed view of where Kushina was lying. He couldn't bring himself to look at her himself, but he saw the shock and grief enter his teachers eyes. "My god..."

Minato shook his head, cutting Jiraiya off before the other man could speak and make him think of what had happened. Now was not the time to be paralyzed with grief. "I promised her to protect everyone. Please, save my son. I don't think I can keep up if we try to escape, so I will stay here and keep him busy." Jiraiya looked up from the ground, bloodshot and tear filled eyes boring into him. "What are you planning, Minato?"

Instead of answering his question, he changed the subject. "Tell Hinata and Shikamaru that we always saw them as our own children, no matter who gave birth to them." Reaching into his pouch, he pulled out a few scrolls, and handed them to his teacher. "And give those to Naruto. Tell him...Tell him I love him, and that his mother loved him dearly. He deserves to know we did this so he could live and enjoy life, as long and as much as he can. Also tell the others that we always saw them as our own children, no matter the circumstances." Minato felt himself choke up as he talked, but quickly regained a tight grip on his emotions. "Go now. I don't think we have much longer before Orochimaru tries to make sure none of us can make it out of here."

Jiraiya looked like he was about to argue for a second, and Minato silently willed him not to. He didn't think he had the emotional strength to argue anymore. He felt numb, as if he only had enough emotion left to him for his last task. Finally Jiraiya seemed to understand, and turned quickly away from him, but didn't leave immediately, instead waiting long enough to give him one last bit of advice.

"Make sure you make the bastard pay, Minato." Minato nodded, though the retreating back of his teacher couldn't see it, and he turned to face the source of the increasing amounts of chakra and youki behind him. Orochimaru was standing close to a hundred feet away from him, in the middle of a pile of ruined crates, his youki rolling off of his body in heavy waves that caused the crates to begin to smolder.

Without even thinking about what he was doing again, Minato was next to his opponent, and before Orochimaru could raise a defense, he landed a punch to the man's jaw. Between the surprise of his attack, and his gate being fully open, he didn't doubt the feeling he felt underneath his knuckles was that of Orochimaru's jaw being shattered under the assault.

Minato continued attacking Orochimaru with a vengeance, moving between seals, and letting the power gained through the full use of his gate to overcome any defense the tired and injured sannin could hope to use. He could feel the damage his pace was setting on his own body, but he didn't care anymore, deriving pleasure in the fact that he was injuring the other man so severely. With each attack, he felt Orochimaru's bones break and shatter. All he wanted to do was to make Orochimaru suffer for every second he had stolen from his wife. Soon enough he would be forced to finish this fight, but at the moment he was content with doing the one thing he had always kept himself from doing in the past, fighting for revenge.

It was an ugly feeling, and he felt a bit ashamed to have given himself over to it, but tried to temper the reaction with reason. The man before him was about as evil and foul as a single person could hope to get, and in many ways it would be an honor to remove such a blemish from the world. This usurper had caused so much hardship, and ruined so many lives, he knew that removing him would not only make him feel better, but save a great many lives.

Kicking Orochimaru in the knee, he watched it bend backwards and create a sick snapping noise. A piece of bone stuck out from where the force of the kick had caused it to break skin. Not even caring about the carnage he was causing, he followed the attack with a front kick that broke a few ribs and sent his opponent flying back dozens of feet.

Minato stood there panting as a result of his exertion, and before he could gain control over it, he began to cough, blood pouring out of his mouth to stain the floor below.

He had to finish this soon. His body was telling him it was at it's limit, and he knew that though it didn't appear that way, he was injuring himself just about as much as he had injured Orochimaru. Soon enough the demon container would begin to heal, and he would be the one to finish the fight if Minato didn't stop him first.

Purposefully performing the seals slowly so Orochimaru could see what he planned to do, Minato began to mold his chakra into a jutsu he had never used before today. He knew how to perform the jutsu well enough, and it had been of his own invention, but the price was just as heavy to use it as Kushina's final technique had been. He would call upon the god of death to be final mediator in this struggle of theirs. It would cost him his life, but he suspected that it was already forfeit. He had put too much strain on his body, and especially his lungs, to ever think he could make it back to Tsunade in time for treatment. Instead he would do the best he could and end the fight here.

Finishing the final seal, he purposefully held back on releasing the jutsu so he could briefly steal a glance at Kushina. Emotion welled up inside of his chest again at the sight, and he turned back to stare at Orochimaru, who was stalking closer. "I'll see you soon." he said, his voice quiet and heavy with emotion. Having made his peace, he released his chakra and let the jutsu take form.

Minato felt the presence of his summon looming behind him, growing larger and taking shape into a being that all mortals would someday be faced with. He was pleased to see the frightened look on Orochimaru's face, and knew the traitor understood how deadly this jutsu was, even when pitted against precious power he sought after.

The snake sannin seemed ready to run, a terrible look of fear in his eyes as he pondered how to escape his grim reaper, but both he and Minato knew there was no outrunning this summons influence. Faster than either Minato or Orochimaru could hope to follow, something short out of the death god's mouth, connecting it with the sannin.

The sight made Minato's stomach turn, but he held resolute, watching with a morbid fascination as an ephemeral cloud that could only have been Orochimaru's soul began to slowly leave his body. It was dark and stained with purple and red, and somehow seemed to fit the man, making a sad testament to how far his corruption had spread.

Orochimaru seemed to understand just how much trouble he was in, and began to struggle with his remaining strength against the technique, focusing on trying to hold onto his soul. Minato had to force more chakra into the jutsu to keep him from succeeding, refusing to let him escape his fate.

The man before him seemed to realize how futile his struggles were, and his eyes took on a dangerous light that Minato knew would only spell trouble him. Trying to force even more chakra into the death god in hopes it would finish it's technique as quickly as possible, he watched Orochimaru's mouth begin to open far wider than it normally should. In the back of his throat, a gleam of metal from his grass cutter sword caught Minato's eye.

The fact he saw it coming gave Minato enough time to expect what was coming, and avoid taking a fatal injury. He couldn't avoid the desperate thrust entirely though, and he felt the sword pass through his chest, piercing his remaining good lung before coming out the other side of his body.

The pain was almost unbearable. He had been unable to control his breathing, and was stabbed on an exhalation, leaving him with barely any air to work with. He knew now that both of his organs were failing him, and he didn't have much time to finish his work.

Focusing on the task at hand, he provided his summon with one last huge amount of chakra all at once, equating to a gargantuan pull on his enemies spirit. It had receded a bit when he had been injured, but he had surprised the man enough with his one desperate pull to reclaim the lost ground, and he continued to draw out his spirit, inch by inch.

Eventually he saw Orochimaru panting from the effort it was taking him to fight the jutsu, and he felt his struggling die off. Without the resistance, it became easier to withdraw his spirit, and Minato knew it was time to end the technique. He too was running out of chakra to feed this summon, and his body was screaming at him to breathe, though he couldn't anymore. Shifting his chakra in such a way to signal the end of the technique, he felt the death god respond to his desires.

Out of the corner of his eye, Minato saw the death gods arm rise up into the air, prepared to cut off Orochimaru's soul from his body, but then everything went red in his vision. Turning back around, he saw Orochimaru snarling beatifically, body cloaked in his youki that took on the shape of a fox's face as the kyuubi sealed inside of him fought to escape death as well.

The pull on his soul came to a shuddering halt, and with another surge of youki, Orochimaru began to reel the soul back towards his body. Minato realized in horror that Orochimaru was using all of his remaining energy to pull his soul back before the final blow could be landed.

Minato's attention was riveted on the progress of Orochimaru spirit, afraid to see who would win in this mortal race between the death god and Orochimaru. Minato urged the god on, giving it the dredges of his chakra, hoping to speed it up the fraction of a second that would decide the victor in this struggle.

Growling, Orochimaru gave one last burst of energy, making his youki fade as it became depleted, and his essence retreated completely into his body. The last portion of his soul narrowly avoiding the knife that cleaved the air in front of the sannin a split second later.

Orochimaru had escape Minato's technique.

Minato felt himself collapse to the ground, the last of his strength leaving him as the death god claimed it's price. In the distance, he could just see Kushina's own prone form.

'We love you, Naruto.' was his last thought before the world went black around him.

X X X

The man hidden in the shadows watched as Orochimaru stared at the corpse of his opponent for a moment, emotions playing over the snake summoners face. He saw anger, and superiority, but he also saw plenty of fear in those eyes. For the first time in many years Orochimaru had been mortally close to passing on, and he was afraid.

He watched as Orochimaru began to drag himself out of the warehouse, no doubt looking for his medic Kabuto for assistance. For a long moment he debated following the man and finishing him off while he was weakened, but despite the opportunity he was faced with, he was not sure how many men awaited Orochimaru outside. He could fight off those lesser ninja, but he dared not give away his presence yet.

Besides, he owed it to the two fallen ninja before him to give his proper respects. Should he leave them here, he had no doubt that Orochimaru would send his men to collect them and drain their bodies of every secret.

Heading over to their bodies, he began to prepare them for a final journey, and having them secure, disappeared with the last true Hokage and his wife.

X X X

Jiraiya collected Naruto into his arms, walking away from the site of the boy's fight. He left the other boy where he was, and only briefly considered whether he should take him with them. No matter the circumstances, they couldn't afford to slow themselves returning to Wave country. So he left the boy, sure of the fact he would be found in due course.

Placing Naruto carefully into the pouch of a travel toad, he got into his own, beginning the long journey back to Tsunade and the others. All the while he wondered how he was going to explain to Naruto and the other children that he would never be able to see their parents again.

X X X

**A/N**

...Please review and/or comment. I love hearing back from the readers.


	24. STATUS

No, the story is not dead. So do not worry about this.

Currently I am writing three other stories (one of which is appearing here on ) and I have been busy writing these stories instead. This does not mean that I am tired of Rekindle, or do not plan to return to it, but I am experiencing some writers block. I know what I need to do for the chapter, but I cannot write it in a manner that I find satisfactory.

As such, it may be a few days or a few weeks until the next chapter is posted. I will continue writing my other stories, and try and create the next chapter of Rekindle when I have a surge of inspiration. The rough draft is about half done, so let's all hope for a speedy recovery from my creative infirmities.

Stay safe, and until next time.

Nova


End file.
